Some people are easily recognized by a single name like Garbo or
Madonna. Capone is one of those whose name conjures legends of 1925
Chicago, where life was in the fast lane and restaurants offered great
Italian food like the authentic dishes found at Capone's Pasta & Pizza on
Beach Boulevard and Utica Street in Newland Center, Huntington Beach
It's a minimalist place with dark red wood tables, ladder-back chairs,
a banquette along one wall and a great wood-burning oven behind a used
brick counter with tall stools. From the stools, you can watch owner and
chef Dino Ferraro cooking up a storm of sauces, pasta and pizza.
From nearly a dozen appetizers, we chose brushetta with shrimp
($5.95), four oblong pieces of Italian bread covered with thick green
pesto, crushed basil, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil topped with tail-on
shrimp. The contrast of crunchy bread with the freshness of the shellfish
was good, but perhaps a little more olive oil could have been used.
If you want to eat and do business or take lunch on the run, you can
do it here. Chicken picatta (lunch $6.25, dinner $11.95) has chicken
pieces sauteed with artichoke hearts in a lemon caper sauce. It's piquant
and zesty, without the usual tomato, served over a choice of pasta.
Capelli d'angelo, slender angel hair, worked well with the sauce, light
with plenty of pasta surface to cling to.
The excellent sauce is also served with veal (lunch $8.95, dinner
$11.95) -- a large cut goes well with spaghetti, a thicker pasta more
typical of Italian cuisine -- a good dinner selection.
Another favorite is ravioli con spinachi (lunch $6.25, dinner $12.95),
which can be dressed up in various ways. Here there are jumbo ricotta and
goat cheese-filled pasta pockets with the spinach in the sauce instead of
in the ravioli. Diced tomato, mushrooms and carrots also flavor the light
white sauce. Served in a hot shallow dish, it is excellent. There's no
need for the pepper mill offered by the pleasant and watchful server,
Josh Martinez.
Entrees include an excellent dinner salad of mixed greens, diced
tomato, carrot, celery, black olive and pepperoncini. The salad comes
with an olive oil and wine vinegar dressing, homemade like everything
else here, including the soft twisted hot rolls that are served instead
of bread sticks. Chef Dino says they're silly and not bread at all.
If you're ready to die and go to dessert heaven, order the tiramisu
($4.50) -- two layers of cake soaked in espresso and Kahlua, powdered
