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Have You Heard of Capistrano's?
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Anonymous user Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
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0 responses 0 comments Pete Padilla isn’t a picky eater, but he knows that great food and a cool vibe make eating out a lot more enjoyable. So he set out to reinvent what downtown dining should be, and now his passion for sophisticated fare and smooth jazz is making a splash in Bakersfield’s growing restaurant scene.
As the owner of Capistrano’s, downtown’s newest upscale eatery, Padilla wanted to bring a certain je ne sais quoi to local diners who often feel like they have to travel out of town to get a great meal. He set out to combine an urban bistro-style atmosphere with contemporary California cuisine that would be unlike anything that downtown Bakersfield has to offer. And with his love of music, jazz was the perfect addition to his metropolitan dreams.
Padilla is the visionary and driving force behind Capistrano’s, and he wants Bakersfield to know that downtown is getting better every day.

Of course, finding the right chef to help him flesh out his plans was critical. His friend Orland Rogers, a 2005 graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts program, was working at Rosemary’s, an award-winning Las Vegas landmark restaurant known for its French-inspired nouvelle American cuisine. Chef Rogers was ready to move up to the challenge of running his own kitchen, and Padilla wanted to create the sort of stylish, refined eatery that would be the perfect complement to his friend’s sophisticated cuisine. “When you have a passion for what you’re doing, it comes out in your work,” Padilla says. “And I have a passion for this kind of place.”
So Capistrano’s was born—and Padilla already had plans for making it a place where people could find upscale atmosphere combined with at-home comfort.  “If you’re looking for a place where you can come with your friends, have some great food and drink, and relax after a long day,” Padilla says with a smile, “then Capistrano’s is perfect for you.”
Shortly after acquiring the property on the corner of 19th and Eye Streets, Padilla stripped the building nearly to the studs to make his vision of a casual but classy downtown restaurant a reality. Today, with its burnished persimmon walls and sleek black leather parson’s chairs, Capistrano’s is indeed the perfect place to stop by for drinks and dinner after a long day in the office. Several cozy seating areas with wraparound couches are tucked into corners. The 50-foot black granite bar sports a dark finish and new high-backed black stools that complement the restaurant without overpowering it. Large abstract canvases with bold lines and rich colors, on loan to Capistrano’s from nearby Metro Galleries, accentuate the upscale ambiance that Padilla wanted to establish downtown. And on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, Capistrano’s features live jazz music and dancing.  
Padilla knew enough about Bakersfield’s other restaurants to know what he was hoping to achieve. “When I looked around the local restaurant scene, I saw a lot of sandwich places and a lot of chain restaurants,” he says. “I wanted something unique.” Unlike many restaurant neophytes who get into the business because they’re good home cooks, Padilla built a successful career as a real estate agent—and his cooking skills are limited. But he knows good food when he eats it, and he knew that he wanted to bring his upscale vision of California cuisine combined with good music to a local audience.
The menu is brief but doesn’t skimp on substance, with everything from pesto to pasta, scallops to steaks as part of the daily fare. Drawing on his time in the Vegas culinary trenches, Chef Rogers effortlessly handles an evolving repertoire of dishes that emphasize seasonal produce as well as Bakersfield’s entrenched meat-and-potatoes preferences.  
On a recent Wednesday, the lunch special was New York strip steak, and it was outstanding—tender and flavorful, served with a peppercorn sauce enhanced by just the right touch of a creamy Maytag Blue cheese. A side of potatoes sautéed with bacon, mushrooms, and shallots rounds out a delicious—and filling—lunch.  For the ladies-who-lunch crowd, a light salad of baby greens with cranberries, candied pecans, and Maytag Blue is tossed with a raspberry vinaigrette and topped with grilled chicken strips. Its fresh flavors explode on the tongue.
Lunchtime diner Robert Miller is halfway through what he calls, “the best filet I’ve ever had.” Miller recently enjoyed a meal at a five-star restaurant in San Francisco, and he points out between bites that his Capistrano’s steak is better than anything he ate in the Bay Area. Now with a glass of Syrah in his hand, he and friend Rocky Munoz, another steak lover who is halfway through today’s special, vowed to return with their wives for an evening meal.
Capistrano’s has lots to offer in the evening as well. The bar has an astonishing 30 beers on tap, including local favorites like Old River Brew Pale Ale and Lengthwise Brewery’s Golden Ale, national brands like Anchor Steam and Firestone Walker Ale, and international favorites Stella Artois and Foster’s. Padilla is even enticing diehard boutique beer connoisseurs with hard-to-find specialty brands like Arrogant Bastard Ale, a San Diego area brew with a devoted following, or the award-winning Pyramid Hefeweizen, a wheat beer often drunk with a wedge of lemon.  
For wine lovers, Padilla has chosen a broad and affordable selection of sparkling, red, and white wines that are an excellent complement to Chef Rogers’ French-inspired cuisine. Served in classic Riedel stemware, the glasses add that touch of sophistication that Padilla is hoping to achieve.  
Like any good businessman, Padilla knows how to stick to his strengths—which means that he stays out of the way of the kitchen staff. Although he appreciates a good meal, he points out that he has no business behind a stove.  Still, Padilla’s influence is everywhere at Capistrano’s—and as he relaxes midday in the dim light of the dining room, activity swirls around him. Food and drink purveyors bring a steady stream of invoices for him to sign, contractors pause briefly to discuss his plans for improvements, and the wait staff trade chatter and smiles with him as they set tables for the evening.
It’s clear that, although Capistrano’s is dishing up culinary treats to a hungry clientele, Padilla views the restaurant as a work in progress. “Downtown is changing,” he says, throwing his arms wide to indicate a neighborhood on the move. “The people who moved down here to pull this area back onto its feet are visionaries, and now we’re all working together to transform this into Bakersfield’s next gathering place.”

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