Fall is here and it is time for Tracy and I to do our October tradition - we celebrate our 'dating anniversary'. We get a little quirky in the way in which we celebrate our dating anniversary and our wedding anniversary in that for our dating one we make it a night on the town and our wedding one we cook a fancy meal at home together. Given that the two are spaced out not quite six whole months apart enough time is between the two that they remain special. For the dating meal we have a few qualifications.
- One, the restaurant has to be a non-chain restaurant. That alone eliminates many of the restaurants around us. This allows us to enjoy the hard work of hopefully locally owned restaurants and local chefs putting their culinary skills on display.
- Two, we try to pick a restaurant that at least tries to have a changing menu. This qualification also hopefully means that the restaurant is taking advantage on locally grown ingredients, seasonal items and not using items trucked in from far away locations.
- Three, knowing that this will in all likelihood be an expensive meal we budget for it. That makes for equal parts frivolity and responsibility. We are not about to have a fancy meal and spend the next three months paying off the credit card bill.
Knowing the date of this meal was fast approaching I consulted several of my coworkers for suggestions. This year is would be the 4th year of this tradition and we had done Margot Cafe, Rumours East and Tayst in years past so finding a new one while keeping to our qualifications was starting to get tricky. One of my coworkers suggested Capitol Grille because it was their go-to anniversary dinner place and their fondness for certain menu items piqued my interest. After looking at the Capitol Grille website and menu I knew I had found the place for this year.
About two weeks before the date we had picked out for our fancy night on the town I called Capitol Grille to make reservations. Yeah I know we are in a recession and people are supposedly eating out less but I would rather be safe than sorry if that night had already booked up. It is also respectful to the restaurant because they know that someone cares enough to ask and that they know someone is serious about getting a good meal/service. The young sounding lady who answered the phone asked questions like 'Have you dined with us before? Is this a special occasion? Oh really, how many years is this? Congratulations. Dinner reservations for 2 at 7pm will not be a problem. We have you down and will see you soon.' The same girl called back the day of the reservation to confirm that we would still be dining that evening. So far, One Gold Star earned.
So the Capitol Grille is located in the Hermitage Hotel in downtown Nashville. We made it a point to arrive early so we could look around one of Nashville's oldest hotels and take in the history of it. One very intesting feature of the hotel is one of the Men's restrooms, specifically the color pattern and decorations. The picture below does not capture the green color of the bathroom fixtures but 'WOW, this is a crazy color 1920's fashion green'.
We were promply seated just after 7pm to a table set for two with a line of rose petals. They seated us side by side as opposed to across from each other and our table was on the outside wall so our view was the whole of the dining room. It kinda felt like we were on display but at the same time we were pretty cozy. As we looked around the room we saw other tabled set up in the same fashion. Clearly we were not the only ones on 'date night'.
The first course was absolutely amazing! Tracy ordered the Sweet Onion Bisque while I had the Hunter's Plate. The bisque was bigger than a cup but not as big as a bowl portion that gave an experience of 'this is very good but I do not need any more than this'. The brie grilled cheese, bacon and chive ingredients were heavenly on the tongue. My Hunter's Plate was described as 'a collection of house curred, smoked and pickled foods' but in truth it was a display of the art of charcuterie. The paper thin slices of cured ham, the summer sausage and the smoked duck ham were phenomenal. Also served was a pepper jelly, a stone ground mustard and a berry preserve and each one was excellent.
Capitol Grille just earned a Second Gold Star for what we ate on the first course.
Next up was the main course. Tracy ordered the Venison while I orderd the Gulf Snapper. The Venison was described as 'Georgia collard greens, heirloom pumpkin, huckleberry shallot jus' but in taste that venison had no gaminess, peppered and grilled to perfection and covered in a wonderful berry sauce. The cubed pumpkin saute was a nice side item. The collard greens may have been cooked with some of the same summer sausage that was on the Hunter's Plate and made them a bit too salty and smoky in taste. This alone was the only negative thing we could say about the meal.
I had the Gulf Snapper which was described as 'brussel sprouts, celery root puree, crab beurre monte'. I think the snapper had been poached to cook it and rested upon a bed of brussel sprouts, the celery root concotion and I could swear I tasted some fennel bulb too. I am not sure what beurre monte is but I need to look it up.
Again both dishes were wonderfully prepared and very enjoyable. Third Gold Star earned.
My coworker who suggested we try Capitol Grille said that one of her favorite dishes was their Truffle Mac and Cheese. I had also heard from other reviews on Capitol Grille that the Truffle Mac and Cheese was something they were particularly known for. I have neglected to mention that much of the food at Capitol Grille is grown at the Farm at Glen Leven. This evening one of the side dishes was wax beans from the farm. Neither Tracy nor I could recall ever having wax beans so we ordered those too. The Truffle Mac and Cheese had a wonderful flavor going on that must have been the truffles or garlic, I could not tell. Not having had wax beans beans before I had nothing to compare them to but they were very tasty.
How could the night get an better? Dessert!!! and it was simple divine. Tracy and I ordered a Peach and Ginger Sorbet but look what we got.
Another Gold Star earned!
So there we were at the end of the meal and Capitol Grille had earned Four Gold Stars in our book. Time to call the valet to bring the car around and get on home. Thank you Capitol Grille for a very good anniversary dinner and evening!!!
Looks like you had a memorable night. I just Googled the Hermitage Hotel to see the outside - wow! And I love that you celebrate 2 anniversaries :)
Posted by: Nicole C. | 11/15/2011 at 03:43 PM