My friend Jill invited me out last Thursday to join her for a night at The Capital Grill where we would get to experience their newest promotion called The Generous Pour. Anything having to do with food and wine, and I’m there! We headed down to The Capital Grill in DC and enjoyed a great night of food and lots of wine! The Generous Pour is an event that pairs an appetizer, entree, and dessert with various wines that were chosen by The Capital Grille’s Master Sommelier, George Miliotes.
We were able to start with a little champagne and a cold corn soup shooter. Then we quickly moved to our next dish which was actually the Amuse, and I thought was very good: Smoked Salmon on Onion Pita crisps. This was served with Lunetta Rose Brut, and was a lovely pairing.
For our appetizers we each chose one: Pan Fried Calamari and Prosciutto Wrapped Mozzarella with Vine Ripe Tomatoes. The fried calamari was ok, but the prosciutto and mozzarella dish was incredible. All the flavors worked perfectly together. There was salty, sweet, chewy, and crunchy. These were paired with Gary Farrell Carneros Chardonny, which was a rich somewhat buttery Chardonnay, and a Slovenian wine called Simcic Rebula, which I wasn’t a big fan of.
For our entree’s we split the Bone-In Kona Crusted Dry Aged Sirloin with Shallot Butter, and the Cedar Planked Salmon with Tomato Fennel Relish. We were hesitant on the salmon but felt getting 2 steaks was red meat overload. The sirloin was paired with Falesco Assisi Rosso, and the salmon was paired with Villa Mt. Eden Pinot Noir. I really enjoyed both these wines and thought they were great pairings with the dishes.
We also had the chance to try the Ferrari-Carano Mt. Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon with the sirloin. This was definitely an American style Cabernet-big, plush, juicy, and tannic. I preferred the Italian and Jill preferred the American. The sirloin was delicious and cooked perfectly, but the salmon less interesting. It was a bit bland and I wasn’t crazy about the tomato fennel relish.
The sides for our entrees included lobster mac and cheese and sautéed spinach.
The lobster mac and cheese was ridiculous and sinful. I couldn’t stop eating, and I absolutely loved the crunchy topping.
We were so full at this point that I couldn’t possibly finish so we stopped here. Oh wait…there was dessert. Again we each picked one of the dessert items to taste: Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake and Cheese Cake with Seasonal Berries.
We had a bite or two of each dessert, but I couldn’t fit anything else in. The cheesecake was my favorite overall, but again neither one really wow’d me. These were both paired with Kia Oro Chenin Blanc which was a nice choice since it wasn’t too sweet and went well with the desserts.
You get to pick from a menu that is made up just for this event, and from that you pick from 2 different appetizers, a few different entrees, and 2 desserts. This worked out well for us because there were 2 of us so we were able to try almost everything on the menu. Of course it was too much food, and we went home with doggy bags, but it sure was delicious. Our server was very generous with our wine pours allowing us to really taste the wines with each dish. He also let us try a couple different ones to see which we liked best.
Not only was this dinner/event delicious and entertaining, but it was so much fun, and I was able to try wines I may have never had the chance to try in the future. Thanks Jill and The Capital Grill for a fantastic night all around!
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A pitty you missed http://schiller-wine.blogspot.de/2012/07/winechat-at-capital-grille-in.html #Winechat at Capital Grille in Washington DC with Fellow Wine Bloggers and Virginia Wine Producers, USA