Calling all chefs who have little time to cook but want to put a gourmet meal on their dining room table!

Caper, in San Francisco’s bustling Pacific Heights neighborhood, has a fabulous solution.

Proprietors, Dawn Green and Pip Marquez de la Plata opened their doors yesterday, after spending months with designer, Anna Veyna transforming the old Sweet Inspirations shop.

Anna, who is responsible for creating The Grove - on Fillmore and The Grove - on Chestnut, has given the Pacific Heights community another reason to shop on Fillmore Street -- and just in time for Fillmore's May 1st and 2nd Springtime Stroll.

"Dawn and Pip have created a Gourmet General Store—including recipe-ready meals, pantry essentials and entertaining accents—under one roof to make simple, delicious home cooking possible everyday," said Anna as she put the finishing touches yesterday morning on the storefront window.

“Pip and I are both accomplished home cooks,” says Dawn, “but with our busy lives, we know it can be frustrating to try to recreate what we see in food magazines and TV. We are offering real-life solutions to that challenge." She went on to say, "We are delighted with the response from the neighborhood on our first day. It looks like we already will need to significantly increase the amount of kits we prepare to keep up with demand.”

Committed to education, Caper conducts frequent seminars and tutorials, covering an array of topics from flower arranging and home entertaining to fundamental culinary skills. All meals come with handy kitchen tips to increase the cook’s skill set. Future plans call for the addition of a wide-ranging selection of wines that complement the entire menu, making food and wine pairing a snap.

The "entertaining accents" they have added include color-coordinated tableware and linens.

To complete the home entertaining experience are fresh flowers and floral designs created by Jonathan Rachman and Elizabetta Cattaneo.

Floral Designers Betta Cattaneo & Jonathan Rachman

Yesterday morning, Jonathan came around the corner from his floral design boutique, Fleur't, pulling a red wagon full of fresh flowers. It was a sight to behold. He carefully placed each of the bouquets into silver bucket holders that were custom-designed for Caper.

Jonathan's attention-to-detail complements the attention that Dawn and Pip have invested in preparing their quick and easy, recipe-ready meals.

The Caper "kits," which will be available beginning next week, serve one, two or a party of four. Each will feature the finest ingredients and fresh seasonal produce, pre-measured, sliced and diced. Seasonally changing offerings (from $10 to $15 per person) include Chicken with Roasted Lemons, Capers and Green Olives; Red Snapper Veracruz; Thai Beef Curry; and Shiitake and Asparagus Risotto.

Simple step-by-step instructions for the entire meal take the guesswork out of timing. The goal is to save you time while giving you credit for preparing a gourmet meal.

Caper also offers everything from Lobster Pot Pie, Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes, Grilled Citrus Salmon with Grilled Mangoes and Oven Roasted Spring Vegetables with Salsa Verde.

San Francisco artisan breadmaker, PANoRAMA delivers loaves of bread, daily. They also provide bread to Bix, Tra Vigne and Mustards Grill, to name a few.

This evening, from the prepared foods counter, we selected one serving of Wild Citrus Salmon ($11.95 per lb.), one serving of Free Range Mediterranean Chicken with olives, feta cheese and red peppers ($10.95 per lb.), two servings of Macaroni & Cheese ($6.49 per lb.), a loaf of PANoRAMA bread, two Boylan Root beers and one Coca-Cola light in a bottle. (Their bottled Cokes come from Mexico.)

Total cost of our dinner for four: $23.67!

The salmon and chicken were out-of-this-world. "This is as good as it gets," said my partner, Tim Fredel.

The macaroni and cheese comes close to DeLessio Market's macaroni and cheese in Hayes Valley.

Pacific Heights neighbor, Jennifer Kelly said, "My friend Alicia has been waiting for months for Caper to open. Alicia's husband loves gourmet meals, so she is so happy to have a fast, one-stop, fun solution that enables her to offer a home-cooked meal to her family."

To help cultivate a well-stocked kitchen Caper offers a hand-selected “home cooks pantry” with staples, cookware and fine, hard-to-find ingredients like Charlie Trotter savory and dessert sauces, Terra Medi wine vinegars, Savannah Bee Co. honeycomb, and Scarpetta pasta sauces, to name just a few. Elsa's Story Line cookies are exclusively available in San Francisco at Caper.

In June, Caper will offer a lunch menu and in-store seating for 15 to ease the pangs of hungry shoppers and passers-by dropping in for a bite. The menu will include daily soups and salads and a selection of hot and cold panini such as Smoked Gouda and Prosciutto and Bittersweet Chocolate (the hot), and Wild Smoked Salmon & Caprino and Roasted Vegetable (the cold).

The overall design employs warm woods, natural tile, and large market mirrors to create a space that is easy and fun to shop in—at once airy and contemporary, with a color palette drawn from the seasons and an atmosphere redolent of the outdoor markets of Europe.

Caper is located at 2123 Fillmore, on the west side of the street, between Sacramento and California. To Caper's right is Vivande Porta Via, and on its left, the soon departing L'Uomo men's clothing store.

Caper is open Tuesday – Sunday, 11 am to 8 pm.

All major credit cards are accepted. For more information, call 415.292.7800.

Caper has been selected for inclusion in the Pacific Heights Summer edition of The Rugged Elegance Companion...Your Guide to Places of Taste.

If you click on their name anywhere in this story it will take you to their profile -- with up-to-date hours, address and phone -- in RuggedElegance.com

Inspire & Be Inspired.

~Jennifer King, a wannabe gourmet chef