Brasserie Capitale in Downtown Sacramento for Valentine’s Day

It was so dark at Brasserie Capitale, even the servers needed flashlights.

While lunching recently at my favorite restaurant in Sacramento, Ella Bar and Dining Room, with one of my favorite persons in the world, my right-hand and friend Shaundra, I noticed that Darrell Steinberg had some sort of political gathering going on across the street at Brasserie Capitale, and I wondered if we should give that restaurant another go. I’m sure that Darrell Steinberg does not remember me when I first hit Sacramento so many years ago, but I recall his graciousness and willingness to talk to me and answer my questions when I was a contributing writer on the side to Sacramento News & Review. Every month I covered events and interviewed community leaders in Oak Park and volunteered in the group that met weekly for Building Unity in Oak Park, while I simultaneously began to build my real estate business in Sacramento from the ground up.

The rest is history, por supuesto. My business soared, and I turned my writing efforts to strictly real estate-related matters for About.com and blogging.

I figured if Darrell Steinberg’s campaign favored Brasserie Capitale, we might go back. We were last at that restaurant around the time it first opened last May, with my husband very much anticipating the coq au vin and who was sorely disappointed when it was unavailable that day. My recollection was slow service and OK food, plus it was fairly warm inside with the glass doors open to K Street. Brasserie Capitale occupies the former location of the old Broiler, monopolizing the bottom of the 1201 K building. Completely remodeled: red oak paneling, pewter bars and la mesas, velvet drapes and a beautiful painting of a dog adorns the wall upon entering. With an open mind, we made a reservation for Valentine’s Day.

This time around, the service was much improved, the dishes arrived within a decent period of time, despite the packed size of the crowd, and the coq au vin was available. At first we discovered my husband was holding one version of the Brasserie Capitale menu, and my menu was different. I ordered the pork chop and that happened to be the very item that was not available on my husband’s version of the menu, so I settled for the pork tenderloin, which arrived medium rare, bursting with flavor and sweetened by raisins. We started with the Boulettes de Viande (meatballs stuffed with cheese, and served in a creamy mustard and tarragon sauce, so delicious that I wanted to pick up the bowl and lick it to savor every last drop).

I saved that fun impulse for when our server returned. She asked if we were doing something else to celebrate after dinner. She might want to rephrase that question in the future, especially on Valentine’s Day, because I gave her the only appropriate answer possible under the situation when I replied, maintaining my real estate negotiating face: yes, wild sex, with all the sincerity I could muster. If you know me, you know I am a troublemaker. The woman at the table next to us slightly giggled. When she looked up to spot the shocked look on the face of our server, she burst out laughing. My job was done.

Not wanting chocolate to keep me awake all night, I opted for the alcohol infused rum cake for dessert. I kept telling my husband I could not taste the rum, but then he had to peel me off the floor to drag me to the car, so you tell me.