Keypoints
- Capricciosa is an Italian chain restaurant in Japan
- Their tomatoes are among the finest in Italy
- There are 37 dishes to choose from
- Kids can learn how to make pizza
What is Capricciosa?
Capricciosa is an Italian chain restaurant. The word capricciosa is Italian, which can be translated to 気まぐれ (kimagure) or capricious in English. The restaurant’s vision is to become an Italian restaurant like ones in South Italy, where people get together and have fun times eating and sharing dishes in a comfortable atmosphere.
Capricciosa cares a lot about the tomatoes they use. Capricciosa has a contract farm in Provincia di Foggia, Puglia, in South Italy. Every August, fresh, ripe tomatoes are harvested and sent to a factory, where they are selected by their shape, color, and sweetness. Only the ones that have passed the test are packaged as canned tomatoes and shipped to Japan so that the fresh taste of the tomatoes are available throughout the year.
Capricciosa runs a total of 109 restaurants in Japan. There are also 19 restaurants in some Asian countries and Pacific islands. Additionally, Capricciosa has two family brands in Japan: Capri Cafe and Capricciosa Tomato & Garlic. There are two Capri Cafe chains in Tokyo, and you can enjoy some coffee and cake as well as pasta there. There are two Capricciosa Tomato & Garlic in Kanagawa and one in Chiba, and the restaurant serves different kinds of garlic dishes there.
What can you eat there?
Capricossia serves 7 types of dishes: spaghetti and penne, pasta, pizza, entree and salad, soup, dessert, and a house special.
- Spaghetti and penne: 10 dishes including tomato and garlic spaghetti, carbonara, squid ink spaghetti, and smoked salmon spaghetti.
- Pasta: 4 dishes; mushroom and ground meat with tomato sauce, cheese cream penne, porcini mushroom cream sauce pasta, and penne a labiata.
- Pizza: 9 dishes including tomato and margarita cheese pizza, seafood pizza, and bacon and sausage pizza. Some of them can be combined as a “half-and-half” pizza.
- Entree and salad: 8 dishes including garlic toast, caesar salad, tuna salad, baked escargot, and fried squid.
- Soup: 2 dishes, minestrone and corn cream soup
- Dessert: ice cream with blueberry sauce
- House special: 3 dishes; rice corroccet with meat sauce, meat cream lasagna, and baked eggplants with tomato cream sauce.
Pizza making experience for kids
Kids can take a lesson and learn how to make pizza from scratch at some of Capricciosa restaurants in Japan. The lessons are held irregularly. The lesson fee is ¥2,000, which includes a whole pizza, two drinks, a certificate, and a special pin badge. For kids, it will be such a fun precious chance to experience pizza making at an Italian restaurant, and for parents, it will be an amazing opportunity to see their children have fun making authentic pizza on their own, which usually cannot be done so easily at home.
Their history
1962: Masaaki Honda, the founder of Capricciosa, flew to Italy to study Italian food.
1967: Honda graduated from the National Culinary Academy of Italy as the top of his class.
1970: He opened the first Capricciosa in Shibuya, Tokyo.
1985: Capricciosa and World Dining Inspirations Group (WDI) became business partners.
Authentic taste and friendly prices
The dishes served at Capricciosa are all so elaborate and palatable you might not find much difference between the dishes and ones at an authentic Italian restaurant. What is defenitely different is the price. Capricciosa serves high-quality Italian dishes for reasonable prices, and that is why it is so popular in Japan and other countries.
