A new, award winning steakhouse, from...everywhere else

Something that's standard one place can seem wholly exotic somewhere else, like tacos in Germany, or Taco anywhere. Where the hell did that guy go? Adding to that list: LA's Capital Grille, opening Monday.

The Capital Grille's a famed, longtime East Coast steakhouse that's just now coming to Cali, and doing so in massive style with a two-story, wine-cellar'd manse dolled up w/ mahogany walls, massive retractable windows opening up to a second-floor patio, four private dining rooms ("The Wine Room," w/ bottles on display; "The Board Room" w/ satellite hook-up for meetings, etc.), and framed pictures of local luminaries, ranging from UA co-founder Mary Pickford to city developer Henry Gaylord Wilshire, who probably would have felt more at home on Santa Monica. The menu's stuffed w/ crazy meatiness: apps include thin-sliced wagyu beef carpaccio w/ seven spices and prosciuttio-wrapped mozzarella w/ vine-ripe tomatoes, while mains run from bone-in kona crusted dry aged sirloin w/ caramelized shallot butter, to the asparagus, crabmeat, bearnaise-abetted Filet Oscar, also the sequel to Stallone's 1991 comedy, as directed by the dude who did Saw. If meat's not your thing, you suck, but can opt for pan fried calamari w/ hot cherry peppers sauteed in garlic butter; cedar-planked salmon w/ tomato fennel relish, and sushi-grade sesame-seared tuna w/ gingered rice, a dish that's surprisingly hard to kick, especially in LA public schools.

CG's also got a huge wine list w/ over 500 options (as well as a private, rentable cellar for frequent-guest's bottles), and'll also be opening a second Cali location in a couple months in Costa Mesa -- so, in the meantime, when they're hungry, they're stuck just puttin' (stuff) on the Ritz.