If you required any more proof that the age of fine dining - at least as defined by posh surroundings, fine linens and what it generally referred to as white-glove service - is a thing of the past, you need look no further than the Four Seasons Resort Orlando.
You know the Four Seasons. Its hotels set the standard for luxury properties. So you might expect the signature restaurant to be ultra elegant, refined.
Well, you’d be wrong. Oh, the food at Capa on the hotel’s 17th floor rooftop is excellent. And service is trained and professional if not white-glove refined. But the decor is decidedly casual. And the “resort casual” dress suggestion means that the restaurant will pretty much accept any manner of attire. So get ready for the table next to yours to be full of people in shorts and flip-flops.
The menu is Spanish - the Basque region to be exact. Among the smaller plates, the smoky grilled octopus was a favorite, as was the cauliflower - roasted so that the florets were brown, tossed with capers and served with an egg in the middle, its yoke begging to be pierced. Honestly, I could have enjoyed that as an entree.
My companion chose the grilled sausage served with lentils, potato and Brussels sprouts. It was a fairly modest entree.
I selected the New York strip, a 12-ounce piece of prime beef dry-aged for 30 days. The exterior had a nicely charred crust and simple but forward spicing. It was an excellent steak, as well it should be for $54.
And could we just revisit the topic of the surroundings and ambience? It seems incongruous to place a plate with such an expensive hunk of meat on a bare wood tabletop. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t a hotel of this size and calibre have its own laundry facility? Would a tablecloth be too much to ask for?