The Hospital of the Future | A Foodies's Paradise - Epicure Bistro | Barrington Horse Country
A Foodie’s Paradise – Epicure Bistro
Barrington resident Katherine Cappas’ Epicure Bistro has something for everyone
When Katherine Cappas eats out, she opts for a family-owned restaurant that always has something different on the menu and purposely avoids the big chains that serve the same dishes as everyone else. It’s also how she differentiates her own restaurant, Epicure Bistro, from the competition.
A fine-dining, modern American bistro with a French influence, Epicure opened in Barrington last May at the Foundry of Barrington mall, located at 718 W. Northwest Highway. It took over the 4,000-square-foot space previously occupied by the Barrington Country Bistro.
On any given week, Cappas likes to introduce customers to two types of fish they may not have eaten anywhere else: Opah, Hake, Barramundue, and Bronzino have all appeared on the menu. Her educated staff can talk to diners about where the various fish come from, how it’s cut, and the health benefits of eating it. The same goes for other rotating specials like wild boar ribs and wild game meatloaf (an exotic mix of wild boar and venison). She likes the flavor of wild game and that it is high in protein, low-fat, antibiotic-free, and hormone-free. Diners with less adventurous palates can choose from various duck and pasta specials.
Epicure’s standard menu is filled with thoughtfully prepared dishes, from a classic appetizer of escargot bathed in garlic butter to a petite plate of warm salmon with brie that is perfect for sharing, to an entrée of duck leg confit and seared duck breast with wild rice and vegetables in a port cherry reduction. A stand-out on the menu is the entrée that launched Cappas’ career in the restaurant industry—crepes.
Menu items range from $9 to $32 with plenty of options in between, Cappas says. A small list of imported wines, taste-tested by her knowledgeable staff, and handcrafted cocktails complement the food.
Epicure’s Sunday, sit-down brunch features crab cake, salmon, Florentine and steak versions of eggs Benedict, along with the classic recipe. Several different sweet and savory crepe options round out the menu—Cappas’ personal favorite is Zapata (scrambled eggs trapped in a crepe topped with homemade guacamole) and served with a salad and sautéed potatoes. There are omelets, and French toast made with Epicure’s homemade brioche, topped with a choice of caramelized apples, caramelized bananas, warm mixed-berries, or Grand Marnier (orange liquor). The lunch menu with its mix of salads and gourmet sandwiches is always available for those who prefer to eat lunch items during brunch hours. To drink, Cappas recommends the homemade Bloody Mary (it’s her husband’s special mix).
Epicure Bistro is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It has two dining rooms—one is conversation friendly and the other features live music on the weekends. There is also seating on the patio and at the full bar.
A former nurse, Cappas took time off to be a stay-at-home mom to her four children. Her husband, John, is a school teacher. When their kids reached elementary school—they are all grown now and living on their own—she had a desire to become an entrepreneur, “to be in charge of her own destiny.” While on vacation, she came up with the idea to open a restaurant, after taking a bite of a delicious crepe she bought from a kiosk. Crepes, which practically vanished from restaurant menus everywhere, have been a favorite of hers since childhood.
A New Space in Barrington
She opened Le Petite Creperie in Woodstock, a restaurant that specialized in sweet and savory crepes, drew a dedicated following the decade it was open. A Barrington resident of 27 years, Cappas’ hour-long commute to work started to take a toll on her. She longed to spend more time with her family and operate her business closer to home. When Barrington Country Bistro closed—it had a perfect location with excellent traffic flow and ample parking—she moved her Woodstock restaurant to Barrington. She changed its name to let customers know she served more than crepes, and brought her entire staff along with her. Her business partner, John Busse, runs the back of the restaurant, handling marketing and finance, and Cappas is in charge of the front.
Cappas’ chef, Pedro Ballesteros, has been with her for 11 years. Trained in French, Latin, and Asian cuisines, he incorporates all of those influences into the food.
“The best thing about my chef is his palate,” she says. “He’s got that gift of taste. He is able to trade great flavors with his sauces.”
Cappas says it made sense to move her restaurant into a space that was occupied by a former restaurant, she just had to put her own stamp on it. “The name ‘Country Bistro’ spoke to the Country French décor,” she says. She changed it and gave the space a “contemporary vibe” by adding a soothing blue and cream color-scheme.
Cappas can’t pinpoint when the busiest time of day or week is, because the restaurant industry is unpredictable. “One day, you could be slammed with reservations and you don’t know why, and the next day it can be quiet and you don’t know why,” she says. “One of the challenges is figuring out how to staff for that and making sure you have enough food.”
A hands-on owner, Cappas always wants to know what’s going on at the restaurant. She walks around and talks to customers. If someone is dissatisfied, she does her best to find out what went wrong and correct it. But she knows, you can’t always make everyone happy.
“I love when people are exiting the restaurant and say, ‘It was great. We loved it. Your servers are so nice. Your food is good.’ That is what drives me, to provide that experience for customers.”
She admits she loves dining out, but she doesn’t get to do it often. “It’s where your best conversations are shared with family and friends,” she says. “It’s the coming together and sharing of stories and your dreams. The dinner table, whether it be at home or in a restaurant, that’s the time to connect.”
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Melanie Kalmar is a freelance writer specializing in human interest features and business. When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two children.