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After 35 years of serving classic Italian food, Il Capuccino in Sag Harbor now stands as the East End’s longest running restaurant under one owner and a perennial favorite among locals and seasonal visitors alike.
“I started with a very short menu because I had a very small kitchen at that time,” owner Achille “Jack” Tagliasacchi said in a recent interview, recalling when he opened Il Capuccino in 1973. Mr. Tagliasacchi has since expanded the restaurant’s kitchen and dining area and created a fully realized menu. Today, diners can choose from a host of culinary treats, including traditional northern and southern Italian food and popular American interpretations.
Inside, the Il Capuccino crew has tried to develop a warm atmosphere with personal touches that reflect not only Mr. Tagliasacchi’s Italian roots, but his personal interests and style. Set in one of Sag Harbor’s older buildings, the restaurant has walls and floors of exposed wood, the tables are adorned with red and white checkered tablecloths, and hundreds of empty chianti bottles hang from the ceiling. Paintings throughout the restaurant depict scenes from Italy, the East End and a series of far-off locales—all but one were painted by Mr. Tagliasacchi.
Originally from Parma, Italy, the restaurant owner and longtime local loves to travel and often captures his scenic destinations in paint. An experienced restaurateur, Mr. Tagliasacchi names Sag Harbor’s Barons Cove, Il Monastero in East Hampton and dining establishments in Mendoza, Argentina, and Miami, Florida, among his former ventures.
Mr. Tagliasacchi said he bought the Il Capuccino property at 30 Madison Street while he still owned Barons Cove. A small Italian restaurant called Giuseppe had operated there, but “the guy went bankrupt,” Mr. Tagliasacchi said, explaining how he came to buy the building. “At that time, there were a lot of stores that were boarded up ... They were not very good times to be in business.”
In 1973, Sag Harbor was not the trendy East End hot spot it is today, and Mr. Tagliasacchi managed to run both Il Capuccino and Barons Cove until 1981, when he sold the latter and bought Il Monastero. About a decade later, Il Capuccino’s continued success—eventually drawing crowds to line up outside for a table—led the restaurant owner to buy the adjacent building and expand. He connected the two spaces and what was once a neighboring art gallery called The Art Store became the additional dining area and “state-of-the-art” kitchen that exist today.
According to Mr. Tagliasacchi, Il Capuccino had a winning formula from the start. While both the menu and the restaurant have grown, the key elements stayed very much the same. “I brought the first espresso machine to the East End,” he said, noting that the machine was a small Pavoni from Italy and proved a hit with local diners. “They loved it,” Mr. Tagliasacchi said, adding that for decades he served only espresso and cappuccino, though regular coffee was recently added to the menu.
Il Capuccino is well-known for its veal dishes, fresh homemade pasta and complementary garlic rolls, which are placed on every table before diners’ meals arrive. Mr. Tagliasacchi said that he created every recipe on the menu. He served as chef during Il Capuccino’s infancy, but noted that James Renner has run the kitchen for many years now.
Mr. Renner began working in the restaurant at the age of 17 and Mr. Tagliasacchi taught him to cook from the ground up. “You have a consistency here with the food,” the owner said, noting that it’s probably one reason why the business prospers. He said Il Capuccino’s dishes maintain consistent quality because of Mr. Renner’s stalwart presence and the fact that the kitchen staff have all been at the restaurant for 17 to 20 years.
“I never change,” Mr. Tagliasacchi said. “All the cooks remain the same.” He said employees rarely quit Il Capuccino because he provides for his staff and regards them as family. Mr. Renner is now a partner in the business and Amber Tagliasacchi, the oldest of Mr. Tagliasacchi’s two daughters, is the restaurant’s manager.
The father of four adult children is excited that his daughter took an interest in the family business. Mr. Tagliasacchi recalled his own start working for an uncle in Italy in 1946, when he was just 16 years old.
Specials at Il Capuccino change every seven to 10 days and the chef often focuses on fresh pasta and local produce and seafood, “according to the season we’re in,” Mr. Tagliasacchi said.
Appetizers include a soup del giorno (of the day) for $4.50, steamed mussels in marinara sauce or white wine and garlic for $9.95 and grilled marinated portobello mushrooms served with grilled asparagus and shaved Parmigiano cheese for $7.95.
Seven salads are available daily, among them: fresh mozzarella and tomatoes served over pesto with pignoli nuts, $9.95; arugula, endive and radicchio tossed with house dressing and goat cheese for $8.95; and a fresh spinach salad topped with sliced mushrooms and a warm bacon dressing for the same price.
Entrées range in price from $17.95 to $22.95 and the menu includes several pasta, veal, eggplant, fish and chicken options.
Mr. Tagliasacchi serves a wide selection of pasta dishes, but he said the restaurant’s specialty is tortelli d’erbetta al burro formaggio, a traditional dish from his hometown of Parma, Italy, akin to large raviolis filled with spinach and ricotta cheese and topped with fresh butter and Parmigiano cheese for $18.95.
Il Capuccino also offers Italian mainstays such as baked ziti or spaghetti, linguini or any choice of pasta with meatballs, sausage or meat sauce, for $18.95. The veal offerings are all $21.95 and the list includes veal cutlet Parmigiana, veal Milanese, scalloppini marsala and piccata.
A favorite fish entrée, frutti di mare, is made with shrimp, mussels, clams and calamari sautéed in pure olive oil with garlic, fresh basil and marinara sauce, served over a bed of linguini for $22.95. Other choices include flounder al limone and grilled salmon over greens, each available for $20.95.
Any meal can include sides of rice or pasta, meatballs, or Italian sausage in tomato sauce for $6.50 or sautéed spinach or broccoli di rabe in pure olive oil and garlic.
Il Capuccino also accepts take-out orders, will accommodate private parties on premises, and has children’s and dessert menus. The wine list features moderately priced bottles along with wine by the glass and carafe.
30 Madison Street, Sag Harbor; 725-2747
Seven days a week, 5:30 p.m. until closing
Visa, American Express, and MasterCard accepted
Reservations accepted for parties of five or more
Not handicapped accessible
Cailin Riley on Sep 19, 2008