We Devoured Capital Grille Downtown

I love a good steak, and several of the best ones I've had come from Captial Grille. Last night's dinner was no exception, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

My Indianapolis fan base will surely know about Devour Downtown . . . the two week celebration of Indianapolis's restaurants that takes place every summer and winter. This weekend we were invited to Capital Grille with friends and had a great time. You've still got time . . . it runs until the 15th.

First, the menu:  I went for Caesar Salad, Kona Crusted Dry Aged Sirloin with Shallot Butter, and Creme Brulee. All excellent choices.

We also opted to pair our evening meal with the Master Wine Tasting Event--"11 wines hand-selected by George Miliotes," the Capital Grille sommelier. If you go for the wine tasting, be aware that you really don't get 11 tastes even though that is what all the promotional material says--including the Capital Grille web page. Also be sure that everyone in your party receives a fresh glass with each pour and a taste of each wine poured. This is where our otherwise very attentive waiter got a little sloppy. But imagine our surprise when we had our fifth taste and we were told we were finished. What? We complained to our waiter and received a sixth taste and a comment that suggested "you've had enough . . . no more wine for you." When we complained to the manager, our wine tasting was comped. Clearly there was some miscommunication somewhere. The manager was very nice and apologetic and our party of six received wine tasting on the house that night.

All that aside, let me tell you about the meal and the wines that we were able to taste alongside our fabulous dinner. Of the six wines we tasted, only two in my humble opinion stood up to the food. While they were all delicious, the point was to really enjoy the pairings.

We started our culinary tour with salad and two wines--I had the Caesar Salad as did most everyone in our party, and it was paired with two white wines: a Spanish Muscat--Botani, Malaga 2008/09 and an Australian Chardonnay, Penfolds Bin 311, Tumbarumba, 2008. Not being a Chardonnay fan (but loving the name of the wine), I immediately started with the Botani, lovely and fruity on the nose and crisp on the pallet. If you have a heavy or creamy dressing on your salad, this would be a nice pairing. But the Caesar Dressing on my salad was lighter and it had lots of lovely really full-flavored parm along with garlic croutons, so the Botani didn't work with the salad. Imagine my surprise, however, with the Chardonnay. It worked in a great way with the salad, picking up nutty buttery tones that weren't oaky that was really delicious with the caesar dressing. Yum. So I DO like chardonney, when it's paired with the right dish, this time Caesar Salad. Round 1's unexpected Winner, an Australian Chardonnay.

Now for Round II, the Kona Crusted Sirloin. Melt in your mouth delicious, especially with the shallot butter and of course the mashed potato deliciousness and creamy spinach goodness on the side. This is where our wine tasting got sloppy. The waiter said that he brought us a California Merlot and an Australian Shiraz, but he really brought an Australian Cabernet Sauvignon. Ok, I like cab (but I prefer Zinfandel with steak). Anyway, after raving over the Beringer (yes, California) Bancroft Ranch, 2003 Merlot, our waiter poured the tastes. I got nothin'. I think he raved because there was nothing there . . . you know, power of suggestion. When I tried the Merlot with the steak, it completely disappeared. The Australian Cab, on the other hand, was a nice screw up. Greg Norman Reserve, 2002, it was full bodied, big and jammy and went really well with the steak. If you don't like big bold wines, however, you will be overpowered by this wine. It's a bit much on its own, so the steak was a nice accompaniment. Round Two winner by mistake--an Australian Cab. So far, Australia 2, Spain 0, California 0.

Finally, dessert. Gotta love creme brulee, and I'm thinking the waiter is going to bring us that desserty muscat from Spain that he told us about. No, he starts with the Australian Shiraz that he mentioned during round 2. Ok, but not a wine that I'd pair with anything desserty. It was another Greg Norman Reserve Shiraz 2003. It was tasty, but not as big as the Cab. I'm not sure it would have stood up to my steak with shallot butter, and it really didn't work with dairy. My friend offered me a taste of his chocolate cake--hey, red wine and chocolate, good idea. However, the chocolate completely wiped out the Shiraz. Disappointing.

So, we're nibbling on our desserts, trying to save some for the next taste. When we asked, this is when we were told we were finished. Complaining, we chose another wine since the waiter wasn't going to offer us anything. And by the way, the desserty muscat was apparently all gone  . . . even though these 11 wines are featured on the tasting menu for another week. So, we chose the Tempranillo from Spain, Triton, Tinta Del Toro, Castilla y Leon, 2008. Again, the waiter absolutely raved about how good this wine was going to be. It was quite fruity and light, and tasty, but not a wine to have with creme brulee or chocolate cake. So, I was overall disappointed with the last pairings.

Then, we asked what was next. And that was when we were told we really were finished even though there were five wines we had not tasted (and I do mean taste . . these were tasting pours, not dinner pours). And this is when my friend complained to the manager. And so the wines were free.

So, my Capital Grille dining experience--the food was wonderful, my friends fabulous, but the wine tasting a train wreck. I will return to the Capital Grille, but next time I will choose the wines myself and avoid the wine pairings unless I'm confident in the ability of my server to actually pair food and wine well. And I will ask how many.