We went to the Capital Grille recently for a special occasion. I felt the whole wait staff was effected with a kind of forced subservience. Does somebody really like this kind of interaction? where diners can pretend they're the masters of the plantation? Other than the twilight zone-ish service, the food was fabulous. We had the dry aged steak and it was amazing. The meat has an unusual texture that makes it stand out in my personal 'history of great steaks'. The dry aging process involves hanging the meat up in a cooler for 3 or 4 weeks while it tenderizes itself by producing enzymes that break down the connective tissue, i.e., it decomposes a little bit. The result is a big, tender, flavorful steak. This is one of their signature offerings but I'll let you in on an interesting fact (love that Google) up until 20 years ago when the meat industry went to vacuum packing most beef was dry aged. So if you had a really good steak back in 1985 and you've been feeling oddly deprived ever since, maybe this is what you've been missing. We also had really good mashed potatoes and a couple different deserts. The flour-less chocolate espresso cake was amazingly good. Like the richest chocolate cheese cake you've ever had. The creme brulee was great, too. Now if I could just go someplace in my jeans and hoodie where the cool and friendly wait person would sit down in the empty chair at our table to get the order just right - and they had the same food - I'd be in Old-Guy-Steak-Lover Heaven. Then there's the cost - this is a 'special occasion' dinner place for me. We had salad, steak, shared sides and desert and it was about $70 a person without drinks and not including the tip. The waiter actually included his business card with the bill (and what the hell do I need that for?) The actual service was super as far excellent food served well, I just had a personal reaction to the 'ambience' and ya know - sometimes that happens to us old coots. \r
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