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| - On a rare night out with my wife, when our daughter's in the capable hands of others, we made reservations for the Capital Grille.
Having eaten there before, courtesy of someone else's expense account, I readily knew what we were in for; a throwback to the dining days where the wait staff dressed formally (and wore name tags), and the interior was tastefully decorated in rich mahogany and imported leather, where an above-average steak can be savored and where the bartender truly knows how to mix a quality martini. In other words, this place oozes of old money, but you don't have to dress to the nines in order to enjoy service here; as long as you don't dress like you're about to attend a GWAR concert, you won't be denied service.
Our attentive waitress, Beth, could not have been more instrumental in helping us decide what to eat. I was jonesing for a good red wine, but I wasn't much in the mood to down an entire bottle on my own (my wife doesn't like red wine, and I don't like white, so that negates our wine choosing); she recommended a rich and full-bodied Rioja by the glass, so smooth and elegant that I would have enjoyed another glass were I more inclined to do so.
We started with the prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella, lightly sauteed and garnished with fresh basil and vine tomatoes. Absolutely lovely, and the prosciutto is from Parma, and not the poser variety most restaurants and delis try to pawn off on you. The crostinis were a delight as well. My wife also enjoyed a wedge salad with a tangy blue cheese dressing.
As for the main event, my wife chose the lobster and crab-stuffed shrimp; think of this as looking akin to a stuffed tomato, lightly glazed and very delicious. I went for the steak Au Poivre, rubbed with peppercorns and served with a cognac (Courvoisier?) sauce. Oh. My. GOODNESS! Tender, with a swift bite to it, thanks to the peppercorns. We shared a neatly-prepped side of sauteed spinach, and the parmesan truffle fries; this was perhaps the only disappointment, as the fries seemed to lack the prerequisite amount of parmesan so as to not make the fries taste like, well, fries.
We topped off our gastric orgy with an off-the-menu layered carrot cake, large enough for two. There was no way we could finish it, but, man, we gave it our best.
$180 for dinner? Yeah, so what? It was SO WORTH IT!!!
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