The Joint's casual, creative approach makes for a fun night out

If you haven't visited Cape Harbour, that tony bastion of fine waterfront dining, shopping and - for a lucky few - living, you are missing out. Even if the luxury condos and houses nestling up against the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River are out of reach, you don't need a second mortgage to enjoy an evening in this idyllic spot.

Taking a stroll along the brickpaved pedestrian walkway that runs between Mediterranean style shops and restaurants feels much more like a European respite than a foray into Cape Coral.

Smack in the middle of all this grandeur is the casual, classy little establishment simply dubbed The Joint. The creation of the talented team that brought us the nearby Rumrunners, The Joint sits right on the marina with a big deck that seems to draw more customers than the chic dining room with its open kitchen, wavy metal sculpture and whimsical surfing art that bring to mind South Beach rather than Beach Boys.

This is a spot, or rather, joint, in which to gather with friends and family, then settle in to enjoy a sparkling Southwest Florida afternoon or sunset with a beverage and an assortment of dishes meant for noshing. I'd call it tapas style except for the fact that most of the items are big enough for two or more to share.

Nightly specials help keep The Joint's menu interesting. On this night, it's sauteed pompano atop a mix of white and wild rice with a beurre blanc sauce then topped with julienned vegetables. PHOTOS KAREN FELDMAN My most recent foray took place on an unseasonably rainy evening. Nonetheless, the expansive deck was well populated with customers enjoying the relatively cool evening. Although the clear plastic drop-down window coverings separated us from the weather, they didn't obscure what turned out to be a damp but lovely sunset.

Even on a less-than-ideal evening, it's hard not to feel cheerful in this upbeat setting. The management takes a fun-filled approach to food and spirits. The extensive drink list, for example, offers selections such as Wild Squirrel Sex, Shock Tart, a Diamond Cutter martini and a Double Passion mojito.

It was the last of those that won me over with the promise of passion fruit juice and a passion fruit liqueur blended with standard mojito ingredients. Although it turned out to be somewhat sweeter than the drinks I customarily order, the subtle tang of the passion fruit melded with mint proved a winning combination. However, my companion's glass of Remhoogte Estate Aigle Noir, a blended red wine from South Africa, was by far the better beverage (see details in the Wine Picks of the Week section of the Vino column on the previous page).

An ever-changing array of grilled vegetables come piled atop creamy gorgonzola-walnut polenta at The Joint. As mentioned earlier, all the food is of the grazing variety so you need not order in set courses. We started off with the vegetable plate of the day and crispy crab Rangoon.

This veggie plate is one that's likely to convince even the most confirmed carnivores to add some roughage to their diets. It was a beautiful montage of grilled fresh green, yellow and red peppers, baby portobellos, fennel and yellow squash arranged atop a mound of creamy gorgonzola-walnut polenta. Chef/partner Frank Caputo elevates this lowly cornmeal mush to a heavenly concoction with the addition of robust gorgonzola and crunchy walnuts. It's available as a side dish, too, for those who want to forgo the veggies.

The other dish consisted of four golden turnovers stuffed with rich crab and drizzled with spicy chili paste. They came arranged around a mound of cool cucumber salad enhanced by bits of crunchy fennel and black sesame seeds, all adding up to a texturally diverse and delicious dish.

For round two, we opted for uptown mac and cheese, a pompano special and a side of broccoli rabe.

The broccoli rabe disappointed, with a burned taste that did not complement its characteristic bitter flavor. Made with garlic and olive oil (The Joint usually serves it with sausage but we asked that the kitchen omit it), it's among my favorite greens. But this version tasted as though some of the garlic had burned, spreading that unwelcome flavor through the dish.

The description of the mac and cheese is irresistible to lovers of this classic dish: a three-cheese sauce over conchigliette pasta, rock shrimp, sundried tomatoes, basil and chorizo. The sauce had a rich flavor without being thick or gummy and the shrimp were good. But, although I probed the bowl thoroughly, I could find only the tiniest shreds of the aforementioned tomatoes and no basil or chorizo. I've had this dish here before and this rendition was not up to snuff.

The pompano, however, lived up to the tantalizing description our able server provided. The tender fillet has been gently sautéed then set atop a mound of white and wild rice, gently dressed with a mild beurre blanc sauce and topped with a colorful nest of vegetable spaghetti - thinly shredded carrots, zucchini and squash. With all the other items we'd eaten, this roughly fourounce portion of fish proved just right.

We were both sated at this point, but felt compelled to report on dessert. To that end, we split a créme caramel that had the characteristic eggy custard flavor but with a much lighter than usual texture and an equally ethereal caramel sauce. It was a refreshing end to the meal.

Our able server was on his toes throughout the meal, despite being rather busy. He made sure we had adequate amounts of beverages, delivered dishes in a timely manner and checked in regularly to make sure all was well. As I looked around, it appeared that all of the servers operated that way, moving purposefully around the room and making periodic stops at each of their tables.

I suspect they get few complaints even when it takes a few extra minutes for food to arrive. With the view, the comfortably casual ambience that lulls diners into thinking they are far, far away from their everyday concerns, plus the creative cocktails and menu, I'm betting few patrons are in any rush to depart. More likely, they're thinking about when they can escape reality with another trip to The Joint.