Nestled among painted clapboard wooden storefronts, Caffe Bocce is situated in a quaint, red-doored building, just 20 minutes outside of Charlottesville in the charming town of Scottsville.
An experimental restaurant featuring nouvelle American cuisine with an Italian influence, Caffe Bocce offers scenic road tourists and locals fine cuisine in a bistro-like atmosphere. Route 20, which brings patrons from Charlottesville to Scottsville, is almost worth the trip to CafŽ Bocce in and of itself. A beautiful path for fall day trips, it winds through the nearby countryside of changing leaves, golden fields and picturesque horse farms.
Successful in almost all it sets out to achieve, Caffe Bocce provides its diners with excellent meals at moderate to expensive prices in a small locale. The effects of its culinary triumphs, however, are diminished by the restaurant's aloof waitstaff, who are blatantly condescending and dismissive towards student customers. They put a damper on what would otherwise be a nice night out on the town.
Featuring cuisine options from the up-scale to the moderate, Caffe Bocce offers its patrons as many diverse entrŽe possibilities as it does prices. Main course salads, hearty in portion, employ a cast of fruits, nuts and cheeses. The haricots vert and poached pear salad ($7.95) includes stilton blue cheese and pecans drizzled in a warm port-burgundy dressing. Maintaining the artistry of the haricots vert and pear salad, but retaining the modesty of the field greens salad, the mixed greens salad ($6.75) features apples, walnuts and bleu cheese in an orange-raspberry vinaigrette.
Illustrating the presence of Italian culinary influences on its menu, CafŽ Bocce features several exciting variations of traditional Italian dishes. These include pasta siracusa, linguini with sautŽed eggplant, green and red peppers, black olives and capers ($8.95), and the farfalle with jumbo lump crab and asparagus mixed in a ginger sherry cream ($12.95).
Similarly creative, the entrees range from pinwheels of vegetable lasagna created from goat cheese and a tomato balsamic sauce ($13) to grilled salmon with a pear "applesauce" and a port-burgundy glaze ($17.50). Specials such as the sweet potato crusted grouper with apple cider reduction ($18.95) also spice up the menu.
Encompassing two spaces, Caffe Bocce achieves a cozy atmosphere while also allowing enough space for large parties to partake in its fine dining possibilities or utilize its facility to host events. The main dining room, with a partially revealed kitchen and a pastry counter, fills out the narrow space of the first room. This charming room presents two aesthetics to its diners: a romantic one stemming from white-lined tables, some of which are situated in nooks overlooking the quiet main street traffic; and a more casual, family-friendly one which is achieved through the presence of comforting brick walls and granite table tops. A nice melding of different atmospheres, the versatile dining room attracts both Albemarle County families and intimate couples.
From our table in the main dinning room, we began our meal with the fricassee of wild mushrooms ($9.95) for our appetizer. Arranged around and on top of an herbed potato cake, the mushrooms were served in a delicious cabernet sauvignon sauce. The fragile potato cake was moist and flavorful and complemented the texture and taste of the tender mushrooms. The palatable appetizer enhanced our expectations and eagerness for our main courses.
The main courses did not disappoint. Our entrees were delectable. Unable to pass over the grouper special, we ordered both it and a pasta dish, orecchiette with shrimp. The special, a melt-in-your-mouth grouper, is tender to the touch and is served topped with crispy sweet potato curls upon an apple cider reduction with maple influences. It comes with a house salad as well as with julienne carrots and zucchini. A savory dish and utter culinary delight to enjoy, the meal is enhanced further due to its artistic presentation via a medley of fall colors.
While far more simple, the orecchiette with shrimp was also well prepared.
Along with the shrimp and pasta, its ingredients include feta cheese, kalamata olives and fresh tomatoes. These diverse components conspired to make each forkful of pasta interesting to the tongue and warm for the body. Filling and healthy, but not heavy, the dish is thoroughly pleasurable. And, it costs a reasonable $11.
CafŽ Bocce presents diners with an array of well-made desserts. The restaurant's pastry counter contained a plum tart, lemon tart, carmelita, cheesecake and a chocolate cake. Based on the woman at the next table's advice, we decided to try the lemon tart. And since the waiter said that he was partial to the carmelita, we opted to taste that as well. Although both desserts were enjoyable, they were rich and extremely filling. Hidden in the the hard shell of the tart, a thin layer of chocolate balanced two thicker layers of lemon custard resulting in an unexpected and overpowering sweetness. The carmelita blended, as the name implies, an abundance of caramel with chocolate. Caramel fans will find this desert exquisite.
While the food was very good and the ambiance was quite nice, our service at CaffŽ Bocce was poor. The waiter assigned to our table was inattentive and snobby. So, although the restaurant, with its many tasty, yet sometimes pricey specials, is an ideal place for dinners with out-of-town guests or formal occasions, students are not able to fully enjoy the charm of the restaurant or the dining experience as they do not feel fully welcomed. Such treatment colored our otherwise wonderful experience and left us with a sour - instead of good - taste in our mouths.
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