The Capital Grille set to open first central Ohio location: See inside

According to Joffrey Reece, managing partner for The Capital Grille's new location in Columbus at 1827 Olentangy River Road, running the restaurant and crafting the perfect customer experience comes down to a science, whether it be hiring and building the staff, calculating the number of steaks that need to be dry-aged and carved in-house for service or creating the right atmosphere in the dining room.

This Sunday, The Capital Grille's great experiment, tried and tested in locations all throughout the country, will be replicated once again for its first location in Columbus with local twists to nestle itself into the community.

"You want it to be inviting. The lighting should be perfect," Reece said. "I mean, there's a science to everything, but everything is from the perspective of the guests. We want them to have an enjoyable experience and feel like you're just out for a big night."

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'Three pillars': Seafood, steaks, wine

Offering both lunch and dinner services , the restaurant is showing off familiar classics from both land and sea. For appetizers, Reece recommended the pan-fried calamari, featuring a blend of sensations — spicy, crispy, savory — that "speaks for itself," he said.

"We're known for pan-fried calamari, lightly breaded" Reece said. "It's a blend of different flours and starches, so it's really light, nothing that's super super heavy... Toss that with garlic butter, spicy array of peppers, we're getting some lemon in there... We're hitting every mark."

Other seafood options include entrees like the sushi-grade, sesame-seared tuna served with gingered rice and a white soy and sambal vinaigrette, or dinner-service appetizers with an array of fresh platter options featuring different ensembles of shellfish.

But to fully capture what The Capital Grille has to offer, exploring the steaks, all of which are hand-carved daily by in-house butchers prior to service, is a must. Taking advantage of the deep flavors and tenderness that the in-house, dry-aging process yields, Capital Grille's menu uses the cuts as a canvas to complement it with flavors like the Kona-crusted, dry-aged bone-in New York strip with shallot butter or the porcini-rubbed, bone-in rib-eye with a 15-year aged balsamic.

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As for the restaurant's wine collection of over 350 selections , unique to each Capital Grille location, there will are three in-house wine sommeliers, including Reece, available to present pairings and offer wine tasting events throughout the year.

For desserts, Reece noted sweet treats like the signature cheesecake with a rich mascarpone filling and brûléed top, and "if you want to feel like a kid again," the coconut cream pie is the delight for you, he said.

While there aren't menu items special to Columbus quite yet, Reece said he anticipates new features to the new location's menu with time and more access to ingredients.

Inside 'The Grille'

Approaching the restaurant, patrons will be are greeted by a chic, monochromatic modern exterior and The Capital Grille's signature chrome lion statues at the door. But the interior is maximalist, with moody burgundies and woody textures, an open kitchen separated by sparkling glass, yielding a stately yet homey atmosphere.

The dining space is separated into two spaces: one main dining space which includes four private rooms and a sparkling floor-to-ceiling temperature-controlled glass wine cellar, and a bar and lounge space. Reece said the structure of the restaurant will ensure guests will get the special dining experience they're looking for, whether it be an intimate conversation or getting riled up on game day.

"We want to keep this intimate setting; we want our diners to feel like they can come in and have a good conversation," Reece said. "Our bar lounge is a whole different scene. We want people to come in here for OSU games, we want people coming here to be comfortable and watch TV and chat and have a good time and not have that bleed over to the experiences (in the dining room)."

Buckeye pride isn't the only local draw that The Capital Grille is harnessing to integrate itself into the community. All throughout the restaurant, there are small touches that reference the restaurant's place in the city, such as custom paintings of famous local figures in sports, entertainment and beyond.

What's more noteworthy than the décor of the restaurant, however, was the people within it. As the team wrapped up their training session on a Thursday evening, there was cheering, chanting of company values, inside jokes and laughter exchanged across the room, plenty of handshakes and dap-me-ups between the staff and Reece — a sign of his efforts in leading his team coming together as they prepare for quickly approaching opening night.

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"We have trainers fly out from across the country to really impart as much as they possibly can and the trainees are here from 8 a.m. to about 5:30 p.m.," Reece said. "To build a solid culture as a foundation is tricky. That's probably one of the most challenging things. That team, we interviewed over 1,000 candidates; we've narrowed it down to 84."

Details

Where: The Capital Grille, 1827 Olentangy River Road

When: Open daily for dinner, with hours Sunday through Thursday from 4 to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m., as well as lunch Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Valet parking is available available for $5 per car Monday-Sunday from 4 p.m. to close. Reservations are currently open and is recommended but not required .

elim@dispatch.com

Instagram: @dispatchdining

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: The Capital Grille set to open first central Ohio location: See inside