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‘Tis the season for red wine, whisky, and dark beer.  This is also the time when unctuous replaces clean as the food adjective du jour, and the perfect time for a diner-inspired meal from Cap City.  The meatloaf ($15.95) is one of my favorites and possibly the perfect fall dish.  This definitely ain’t your momma’s meatloaf.  The velvety meat is topped with cream-filled mashed potatoes and a slight crisp of thin fried onion strips.  The complex barbecue sauce allows this dish to transcend nostalgia and plateau somewhere around the elegant.  Another dish worthy of note is the chicken pot pie ($14.95), the restaurant’s Blue Plate Feature on Tuesdays.  On bottom dwell buttermilk and chive mashed potatoes.  Then comes a flood of chicken and gravy in which pearl onions, carrots, and peas swim happily alongside porcini and button mushrooms.  The dish is finished with a flaky puff pastry cap: definitely a worthy winter meal.  Try any of the dishes with a watermelon mint julep- a farewell kiss to summer fruit and a welcome back to whiskey winter.  If that isn’t seasonally appropriate enough skip straight to the Big Cup O’ Chocolate ($5.95), a large mug filled with a fresh-from-the-oven hot chocolate lava cake and topped with ice cream.  Seasonal depression never tasted so good.

Another Option for sinfully rich desserts is Cameron Mitchell's Cap City Diner. The restaurant is famous for its Seriously Big Chocolate Cake, which, believe it or not, just got bigger. The massive formerly-three-layer cake recently grew to an unbelievable seven layers! You really have to see it to believe it. A thick layer of milk chocolate icing weaves in and out of the cake's dark chocolate layers, creating an enticing blend of flavors. Other than being seriously big, this cake is also seriously chocolatey, seriously moist, and seriously delectable.

While Cap City's chocolate cake is by far the popular favorite, what would a great diner be without pie? Whether it's cherry, pecan, or apple, Cap City's baker makes each and every pie, including its crust, in house daily. The result? Pure satisfaction you can count on in each and every bite.

Wouldn't it be nice to reach the age of 40 and realize your life dream? Cameron Mitchell, the creator of Cap City Diner, owns 18 other restaurants in three states that cover nine different concepts in dining. Between the two of us, we've had the pleasure of experiencing the majority of these culinary endeavors.

As the old expression goes, we were trying to "kill two birds with one stone." Mindy and her friend, Michelle, needed new running shoes and Mindy and Randy needed to get a review together. The athletic shoe store just happened to be in the same complex as Cap City Diner in Gahanna off Hamilton Road, so the dilemma was solved. We arrived a little past noon, with rumbling stomachs, and were pleased to be seated quickly even though the place was bustling with the work crowd.

When we saw the impressive dessert offerings in the display case we knew we better save room, so we skipped appetizers this visit. We hope to return to try wh! at the readers of Columbus Monthly Magazine consider the city's best potato chips: Maytag bleu cheese potato chips ($6.50) -- an odd combination of crunchy chips, tasty Alfredo sauce and tangy bleu cheese with scallions.

Cap City offers an extensive menu, plus daily specials. All of us were interested in one of the specials for the day -- the crab cake sandwich ($8.95), but we let our guest have first pick. Michelle graciously gave each of us a bite of the generous crab cake which was served on a toasted English muffin, topped with smoked cheddar cheese with a side of spicy horseradish sauce. Mindy wavered between the smoked turkey Reuben ($7.95) with Swiss cheese, coleslaw, red onion and mayo on rye and the Tuscan grilled chicken salad ($9.95) -- penne pasta, garlic cheese bread, Romaine lettuce, Roma tomatoes and roasted portabella mushrooms, tossed with tomato basil vinaigrette. She enjoyed her selection of the large salad but wished she had ordered her dressing! on the side. When Randy noticed multiple orders of Cap City Diner mea tloaf ($8.95) coming out of the open kitchen she looked no further. This stack of buttermilk-chive mashed potatoes, meatloaf, wild mushrooms and chili onion rings, covered with BBQ gravy and surrounded by broccoli appeased Randy's heartier appetite. The only disappointment was the broccoli which was not as fresh as it should have been.

Most items are available for lunch as well as dinner. A few of the more unusual caught our attention: pecan crusted pork chop ($8.95/16.95) served on cheddar-chipotle mashed potatoes, candied pecans, spinach, and shallots all covered with an apple cider glaze; salmon saltimbocca ($9.95/16.95) -- pancetta wrapped pan seared salmon served on wild mushroom risotto with artichoke relish and a sage and chive butter sauce; and Diner vegetable plate ($8.50/10.95) -- an angel hair pasta cake with goat cheese, portabella spring roll, grilled asparagus, sauteed spinach and vegetables covered with sweet basil marinara sauce.

Cap City Diner! has a nice kid's menu ($4.95/lunch or dinner). Children will certainly be as tempted, as we were, by the house made pies and desserts. It was a tough decision, but we all voted for orange dreamsicle cake ($5.50) -- our childhood treat recreated. This seven layer confection with an orange cream cheese icing is awesome.

We hope to come back to find out if Cameron Mitchell's stated goal is true: "To be better today than we were yesterday, and better tomorrow than we are today." This time was three and one-half forks; next time, who knows?

Copyright (c) News Journal. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, Inc.

August 2004

Though this Cameron Mitchell hotspot is traditionally packed, there is always a warm buzz floating through the air that never turns noisy and imposing.  The bar on weekdays during happy hour is full of smiling people enjoying appetizers at half off. 

Cap City’s tasty food and mannered staff are respectable and dependable.  The restaurant runs like clockwork, a result of everyone subscribing to the same simple concept: No matter the request, the answer is yes. 

Manager Brian Scheren’s calm and collect demeanor is impressive.  Both he and the entire staff sincerely want you to have a good time and feel at home while you enjoy a great meal; that can only lead to a success story at every table. 

Because there are so many poor meatloaf imposters out there, we chose to feature Cap City’s version ($8.95) as a reminder of how this ultra American dish, when made seriously, can make you smile all over.  Even your mother will shake the hand of this dish…right after it smacks the smile off her face.

Cap City Fine Diner & Bar, located in Grandview closed for a complete remodel and the new design was recently unveiled.

Cap City, which first opened its doors in October 1995, was Cameron Mitchell Restaurants’ third restaurant and second concept.  After nine successful years, the restaurant features an entirely new color scheme, new paint, carpet, light fixtures, woodwork and booths.  The bar has been updated with a new bar top and the raw bar has been outfitted with mosaic tile.

Located near Ohio State University in the Grandview neighborhood, Cap City offers the taste of diner favorites with an upscale twist:  The meatloaf is sliced extra thick with buttermilk chive mashed potatoes and french-fried onion rings finished with barbecue gravy.  Several new selections have been added to the menu.

Salad lovers will enjoy the new fresh and tasty Greek salad with romaine lettuce, field greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, kalamata olives, feta cheese and creamy garlic dressing.  A new Monday Blue Plate special is the Chicken Parmesan with spaghetti, marinara, broccoli, and Alfredo sauce.

Cap City Gahanna Executive Chef Brian Wilson has developed two mouthwatering additions to the Famous Large Plates.  Horseradish Crusted Salmon with sweet potato and Yukon gold hash, spaghetti squash, carmelized fennel and applejack reduction and “Chips on Fish” featuring Yukon gold potato crusted Boston Cod, coleslaw, tartar sauce, capers and malt vinegar beurre blanc.

Everyone knows to keep your fork at Cap City since dinner isn’t complete without a slice of one of the homemade diner pies.  A new heavenly dessert selection has been added to the menu.  The Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pie is made with Oreo Crust, peanut butter mousse and chocolate ganache.  For more information, please call (614) 291-FOOD (3663).  Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, LLC, operates nine different concepts encompassing 24 restaurants and a catering di-vision in Columbus; Cleveland; Cincinnati; Pittsburgh; and Lansing and Birmingham, Michigan: Chicago; and Indiana-polis.  A second Mitchell’s Fish Market is set to open in Livonia, MI, in January 2005.

Concepts include Cameron’s American Bistro, Cap City Fine Diner & Bar, Columbus Brewing Company, M, Martini Italian Bistro, Mitchell’s Fish Market (a.k.a. Columbus Fish Market), Mitchell’s Steakhouse (a.k.a. Cameron’s Steakhouse), Molly Woo’s Asian Bistro, The Ocean Club and Cameron Mitchell Catering Company. 

Cameron Mitchell’s Cap City Fine Diner and Bar in Gahanna received a makeover in December.  The updated space features warmer colors, lots of wood tones and a more upscale feel, says general manager Tom Markgraff.  “We put more ‘fine’ in ‘fine diner,’” he says. 

Cap City’s bar top now is made of vivid red stone, but the fundamental change at the bar is the diner’s use of fresh-squeezed orange and grapefruit juices.  Even the bloody mary mix is made fresh.  “The quality is far better than it’s ever been,” Markgraff says.

Another Mitchell venture, Columbus Fish Market in Grandview, also was updated recently with a new color scheme and design.  Fresh fruit-infused drinks can be found at the Fish Market, as well as all other Cameron Mitchell Restaurants except Columbus Brewing Company, which will adopt the practice in the spring.