About 20 years after the local chef Ian\u00a0Brower first worked at Cafe Capriccio in Albany, he returned in March, first helping with events and then becoming the executive chef.<\/p>\n
The restaurant is indelibly associated with its founder,\u00a0Jim Rua<\/a>, now in his early 80s and still active as chef-raconteur for private parties in Capriccio\u2019s upstairs Chef\u2019s Table event space. For at least a decade, the restaurant\u2019s main kitchen has been under the official supervision of Rua\u2019s son, Franco, though for the past five years the day-to-day head chef was Pat Bishop, who first worked at Capriccio when he and Franco Rua were teenagers. With Bishop, Franco Rua and longtime Capriccio employee Lane Zugalla now at Pinehaven Country Club in Guilderland, in their first season running the restaurant\u00a0Capriccio on the Green<\/a>\u00a0and banquet service, the family reached out to a longtime friend who conveniently was available to take over the Albany kitchen.<\/p>\n In late January,\u00a0Brower\u00a0and business partner Max Wolff lost the lease for\u00a0Mallo\u2019s<\/a>, their Troy sandwich shop known for its gourmet and often\u00a0eccentric creations<\/a>, and were forced to close after more than three years. Soon, Franco Rua asked\u00a0Brower\u00a0about returning.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was my first ever serious kitchen job, so to come back as the head chef is wild,\u201d\u00a0Brower\u00a0told me.<\/p>\n Jim Rua said he was delighted by\u00a0Brower\u2019s return and appreciates his energy, enthusiasm and the skills and knowledge gained as head chef of restaurants including Lost & Found Bar & Kitchen and the former New World Bistro Bar and Capital City Gastropub, all in Albany.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s had a lot of diverse experience since he was here 18 years ago, and he brings that experience to this framework,\u201d Rua told me. He said\u00a0Brower\u2019s mandate is to maintain the quality of classic dishes\u00a0\u2014 no messing with the eggplant with four cheeses, escarole and beans, calamari neri and puttanesca sauce, in other words\u00a0\u2014 but to use the list of daily features to bring back old favorites and try new ideas that fit the Capriccio ethos. Such as\u00a0two from last weekend<\/a>: pork shoulder steak topped with escarole, eggplant and vermentino-soaked raisins, and hake with arugula pesto and saffron risotto.<\/p>\n Brower\u00a0said, \u201cThe big decider for me, when I knew it would be a good fit, was when I realized that all of the things that Jim would never take off\u00a0the menu<\/a>, I wouldn\u2019t either.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n