WILMINGTON — The votes are in and after reviewing more than 12 million reviews of more than 26,000 restaurants across the United States, Wilmington’s own Caprice Bistro has made it to the top 100 most romantic restaurants according to OpenTable.
Located at 10 Market Street in a building that dates back to 1890, complete with original hardwood floors, Caprice Bistro has called Wilmington home since 2001.
Each year OpenTable reviews restaurants across the country in all 50 states as well as Washington D.C. This year North Carolina tied for first place, along with Ohio and Virginia, with eight restaurants in the top 100.
“The list of the 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in America is generated solely from more than 12 million verified OpenTable diner reviews collected between Dec. 1, 2016 and Nov. 30, 2017,” according to a press release from OpenTable. “All restaurants with a minimum ‘overall’ score and number of qualifying reviews were included for consideration. Qualifying restaurants were then scored and sorted according to the percentage of reviews for which ‘romantic’ was selected as a special feature.”
Owners of Caprice Bistro Thierry and Patricia Moity were both born in France. They made their way to Wilmington 16 years ago, after spending time in both New York City and Charlotte and they’re no strangers to food. Both Thierry and Patricia have made a career of working in restaurants, and have been owners of several restaurants.
“We had a restaurant in Charlotte for about seven years, and before that we had another one in New York for about eight years … before that we spent at least 10 years in France and Europe to work here and there,” Thierry said.
Thierry and Patricia met in France and eventually made their way to the United States.
“I grew up in the North of France and then I moved to the South where Thierry was working, we met and we got married in the South of France,” Patricia said.
After working in New York, the Moity’s decided to make the move south to Charlotte until they decided they wanted to be closer to the ocean. They have been in Wilmington ever since.
When it comes to romance, Caprice Bistro offers guests two distinct options, the first being the main dining room, which offers a more traditional dining experience. Upstairs, Caprice Bistro offers guests a chance to enjoy a cozier lounge-style dining room, complete with full bar.
“The downstairs is more classic, traditional bistro. The upstairs we wanted to get a little more eclectic, like a New York style,” Patricia said.
Guests at Caprice Bistro have their choice of both French and some Belgian cuisine, since Patricia has family in Belgium and was born near the French/Belgian border.
Typical French dishes like steak au poivre and escargot can be found at Caprice, as well as more vegetarian options like crepes du jardin. When it comes to wine, Caprice Bistro offers a variety of French wines, as well a selection of non-French options.
Valentine’s Day has already been fully booked at Caprice Bistro, but for Thierry, every day is like Valentine’s Day at the restaurant. Reservations can be made online, but walk-ins are also welcome.
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