"Food, passion, people" is the motto of Capello, which has opened in the old Tribeca premises in Durban's Florida Road.
Something had to happen there: the two-level, industrial chic venue was too vibey to be lost to the eating out scene.
And so comes this franchise operation, the first of its kind in KZN, with most outlets located in Joburg.
The menu could be described as eclectic, running from breakfast to burgers, sushi to pizza.
Given a guess, I'd say that it was aimed at the younger market, those looking for something to eat while sipping a cocktail or to feed the late-night munchies.
The upstairs section is certainly great for people-watching, gazing down into the room below street level, which looks remarkably like a canteen, despite the bar and exposed brickwork.
At lunchtime that area was unpopulated, with a sprinkling of people outside snacking on platters, and a couple eating what is described on the menu as a Thai stir-fy, cooked with (Japanese) teriyaki sauce and served with a huge crunchy thing that our waitress said was like a roti, but fried.
Talk about cross-cultural confusion...
The portions are big (good for this market), so we didn't make much dent in what was described as a starter portion of chicken wings with barbecue sauce, although they were tasty.
The same couldn't be said for fried calamari, which oddly came as baby tubes in a thick breadcrumb coating that overwhelmed any other flavour.
A platter of sushi surprised pleasantly with the freshness of the fish, although the rice was on the loose side, making handling difficult.
We wolfed that down, but couldn't face more than one slice of a pizza.
Not wanting a meat topping (particularly not a pizza with spareribs on the bone with a sweet baste and oregano - I kid you not), we asked for the basic (mozzarella, tomato and oregano) with mushrooms and onion, for which we would pay extra.
It was the oddest pizza I've ever (not) eaten, with a pale, almost uncooked base, topped with raw tomato and onion and tasteless cheese.
We gave up and headed for coffee and cake elsewhere.
I'd stick with the sushi.
Telephone: 031 312 9843.
It's also a franchise new to these parts, but Col'Cacchio at Gateway, Umhlanga, is a different proposition.
This is not the greatest of settings, extending into the main foyer of the mall, but two meals there have been very enjoyable.
A Siciliana pizza with olives and anchovies couldn't be faulted, with a commendably thin, crisp base and loads of topping.
A smoked chicken salad was generously proportioned, fresh, and garnished with roasted red peppers, spring onions and avo.
But best of all was a plate of al dente chicken ravioli (in themselves not wildly exciting), with a delicious sauce of "mixed exotic mushrooms", cream, herbs and Parmesan. The mushrooms were indeed mixed and exotic, including enoki, porcini and what looked like ceps. It was again a huge portion, but we flattened it.
The extensive menu includes the likes of butternut capelletti with burnt sage butter, gnocchi with gorgonzola, mascarpone and leeks, spaghetti with meatballs and lamb capelletti with osso bucco.
The choice of pastas includes wholewheat and wheat-free versions, for an extra R2, and you can build your own salad from a wide range of ingredients including smoked salmon, prawns and Parma ham.
Likewise, pizzas can be assembled with just about every topping under the sun. And they come in children's portions too.
Apart from a Lindt pannacotta, desserts are standard.
But that's a minor issue: if you're heading for a movie or wanting post-shopping sustenance, this is worth a whirl.
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