Restaurant Review: Caffé Delle Stelle, 1523 N. Main Street, Walnut Creek
Caffé Delle Stelle used to be one of our regular haunts some years ago, when Sylvia and I lived in Pleasant Hill. Since moving to San Ramon, however, our dining experiences rarely take us to Walnut Creek. It was therefore with a little trepidation that we dined there recently. So many of the restaurants we used to know well have either gone downhill fast or just gone out of business due to increased competition. This is not an easy business in which to make a living. I am therefore very pleased to be able to say that Caffé Delle Stelle is just the same as we remembered it. They even have the same manager (!)
I should perhaps point out, for the benefit of regular readers, that this is a far cry from most of the restaurants I have reviewed. This is not a competitor for the likes of Forbes Mill or Postino, both of which should clearly be categorized as fine dining establishments. Caffé Delle Stelle is somewhat further down the scale than that, but frugality appears to be seen as an approach that many are embracing at the moment, so a more affordable dining experience appears well justified to me. That is not to say that this is in any way “down-market”. In fact it has the feel of a casual neighborhood café, an authentic Italian Trattoria. I find its survival a little surprising being situated, as it is, in what has to be a high rent area in Walnut Creek’s “restaurant row”. But perhaps that is the secret to its success. All around are restaurants with much higher prices while Delle Stelle clearly offers good value.
The ambience, in fact, is very appealing. The space was a restaurant well before Delle Stelle took it over and it is apparent that the budget was spent on the kitchen rather than the dining area. Closely packed tables with plain white tablecloths surround a simple central servery and the whole area has a painted concrete floor. Décor comprises, Italian wine bottles, boxes of dried pasta, giant cans of tomatoes, six-packs of Italian beer and similar items, all arranged in tasteful stacks. It sound strange but it works. There are usually plenty of customers and the restaurant has a definite Buzz, although I believe it is rarely full.
As far as the food goes, it is pretty authentic. There is a wide choice of appetizers including smoked salmon and carpaccio, neither of which would be typical menu items in a mid-price restaurant. There are also quite a few salads.
On being seated, a plate of bread with a bowl of a kind of tapenade, is brought to your table, together with a jug of slightly sparkling water with ice and a slice of orange. This is a nice touch and as is so often the case, I think it s the small things that make the difference.
On this occasion, keeping our fore-mentioned frugality in mind, Sylvia and I headed straight to the entrees, although we did select a bottle of Chardonnay as both an aperitif and to accompany our meal. You have to draw the line somewhere!
I ordered the grilled sole, which was always one of my favorite dishes here in the past. The quality was as good as ever. A generous filet of sole, cooked under the broiler with melted butter, dotted with capers and with a generous squeeze of lemon juice. Wonderful! This was accompanied by mixed squash and soft polenta. A very good well-rounded dish in the Italian tradition.
Sylvia chose another Italian dish, Chicken Saltimbocca. This was also very tasty, and a generous portion. The chicken breasts were smothered with the Saltimbocca sauce and this was accompanied by baby well-roasted potatoes. Neither of us had a dessert, and I don’t recall that their desserts were particularly exciting from when we were regular patrons but we were both well-pleased with our meal.
I should warn wine drinkers that the wine list is both short and predominately Italian. Not a problem if you know your Italian wines but I don’t. The chardonnay we had was Californian though (Salmon Creek, which is the house wine) and it was fine. Service was a little slow, but we were not in a hurry and we will certainly return.