Cafe Capistrano 01/09/10

Okay the first official Shakes dinner!  (Please read previous post for rules.)  


So we set UrbanSpoons at North Raleigh and $$.  My first shake did it.  We landed on Cafe Capistrano off Durant Road.  80% of the 95 UrbanSpoon voters liked it.  Previous reviewers described it as California style Mexican.  This was a good description.


We love Mexican food but any typical Mexican restaurants (places that begin with El, Los, La, or Las) can sometimes be a bit heavy.  Let's just say after we usually eat Mexican any romantic interlude is out of the question. (Greyson: "Speak for yourself") Bloated bellies leave us passed out on the couch with the dog.  

There it is....

But Cafe Capistrano was a little lighter.  Everything was much fresher.  You could still get the Mexican fare you crave, (Quesadillas, burritos, enchiladas, etc.) but with a fresher taste.  (That's the Californianess in there.) The refried beans were awesome.  Cafe Captistrano's website says they use no animal fat in the beans and it shows.    


We got guacamole for an appetizer.  This is big for me.  I'm big on the guac. But no one is bigger on the guac than sister my Julie who asked for a description.  I told her it was "chunky and fresh."  She seemed happy with this, and she's the guac expert afterall.  However, they did not need all the lettuce around the guac.  It got on my nerves.  I mean, I don't want lettuce when I'm trying to eat chips! (Greyson: I thought that made them healthy)

My sister Julie Jones, the guacamole expert on her Wedding Day 10-4-08.  

In my previous post I explained how we usually go to "The Place" a city is known for.  We also usually get what a particular place is "known for," or that night's special.


So I ordered the Santa Fe Enchiladas with their secret mole sauce.  I'm not real sure what was so great about the sauce.  I may be biased, but my fave mole sauce is at Fiesta Grille in Carrboro.  OMG!  It is awesome! (Greyson: I would bathe in that sauce)


Greyson got the special.  The Crab Quesadilla.  He liked it and wanted to eat it all.  He was good and backed off. (G: Until the next day when I found it in the refrigerator...oops) 


I thought the portions were a little large.  We had a doggy bag.  Who are we kidding, our dog Ginger will never see tasty leftovers. (G: This whole time I could have blamed it on the dog?!?...ugh, missed opportunity)


The one thing that bugged the crap out of me was this stupid, distracting fountain in the middle of the restaurant.  I swear to you it was a freaking garden statue!  (G: Yeah, very weird...Gordon Ramsay would have had a fit)


But the staff was nice and prompt.  We gave Cafe Captistrano our approval on UrbanSpoons.



So did we have a romantic interlude after our less-heavy Mexican dinner?  Please!  We're not that kind of blog! (G: Again, speak for yourself)


Ole!
Amy

The beginning

Our inspiration for this blog:
When we travel we're the kind of people who have to eat at "THE PLACE" that particular city is known for.  Hence the picture of us at the famous Arthur Bryant's BBQ in Kansas City, July '09.  We're working to check off restaurants before we die.

But at home we found ourselves eating at the same restaurants all the time.  We couldn't decide where we wanted to eat.  If it wasn't in the North Raleigh/Brier Creek area, we didn't go.  BORING!

We got iPhones for Christmas '09.  Well, I got a new iPhone 3GS 16G.  I had been wanting one since they came out but, I refuse to get the first generation of any technology as I believe the bugs haven't been worked out. (Before Apple's sleek iPod/iPhone days of compatability I took a '99 iMac to college and dealt with 4 years of headaches.)  Plus, we had a contract with Verizon.  

But, our contract was up, and Greyson being the wonderful husband he is, agreed to get rid of his Blackberry.  (He has one for work anyway.) He surprised me Christmas morning with a creative way to wrap my gift and we went and got the phone the next day.

Greyson's creative gift wrap

We were in the Apple Store and Greyson says.  "I'm not gonna lie.  I'm a little jealous."  I knew he too wanted the pretty little piece of smooth technology in his pocket that makes you feel cooler than you really are.  After a week of watching me Tweet, text, and app shop my fingers raw, we went back to the Apple Store.  I assured him that him getting a phone would make my Christmas gift no less special.  Just to make sure though, he got the older 3G 8G model for $99.  He is a dear!

So a week after we kept hearing the "Da-na-na Da-na-na" of the ESPN SportsCenter App constantly update on his phone we discovered the inspiration for our blog, UrbanSpoon.

www.urbanspoon.com has an iPhone app we love.  (A free one, Greyson is not big on the paid ones yet. I of course would easily drop five bucks for a Harry Potter games App.  But that's a different story for a different blog.) With the UrbanSpoon App you can find restaurants in your area and read reviews.  You can set a filter to the type of cuisine you want and price.  Then you shake your phone and it finds restaurants for you.  

We tend to make everything a game.  Seriously, everything.  So here goes....

Shaking it up, The Rules:

1.  When we're going to dinner we each get 3 shakes to find the right place.  Sometimes we may not be in the mood for Mexican, or Sushi, or whatever.  The 6 shakes at least give us some choice.  We'll pick a restaurant from there.

2. No repeats.  We're trying new places, at least for 6 months.  

3.  We review each restaurant on the UrbanSpoon App.

4.  We blog about our experiences here.

A few caveats.....

1.  We are in no way restaurant critics.  Our only qualifications are that we love to eat.  We love to eat out.  And we have spent countless hours watching both the British and American versions of Gordan Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.  

2.  Greyson is trying to lose weight.  So we have to EARN our dinners out.  We have to work out.  It's on the internet now so we are accountable.

3.  Only 1-2 nights out a week.  We cannot afford any more.  Maybe after our stellar critiques catch Ramsay's eye and we become part of his restaurant empire, we could do it every night.  But not now.

4. You will hear about our dinner conversations on this blog.  We plan to bring friends along on our dinners.  You'll have to hear about them too.

Here's to technology making dinner more entertaining!

-Amy