The Capitol Room

A January event brought Christiani’s back to The Capitol Room. It is always a treat to see and taste what they have cooked up.  No buffet this time. It was a sumptuous meal served family style. The guests were seated at tables of eight. Christiani’s that night was under the direction of Judy their efficient hostess who spearheads the production of serving and pleasing 250 guests. At the appointed time, Christiani’s staff fanned out through The Capitol Room with platters and bowls overflowing with their creations. Chicken Parmesan, Tortellini soup, Pasta with meatballs and Italian sausage, a huge garden salad and hard rolls with butter.  WOW!!!!!!!This was the first time ever that a meal has been served family style at The Capitol Room. What an elegant presentation, but yet it was just like setting around the table at home with family and friends. “Peter,would you pass the salad again please, it’s so gooood!!!!”

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One of the many emails that we received today asked about the table and chairs. The question was “How does the tables/chairs rental work.”

Goods news!! We have no charge to use our tables or our chairs at The Capitol Room. They are included in the rental of the room. I can understand why the question has been asked though. When we give tours of our facility the question comes up quite frequently. The reason being that there are some venues out there in reception facility land that do charge $1.00 – $2.00 per chair for rental on top of the facility rental fee. They also charge a per table rental fee as well.

At  The Capitol Room you can use 10 chairs and 2 tables or up to 275 chairs and 30+ tables, it’s all included in our facility rental fee. Now that’s a relief, isn’t it.

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On the tables tonight there are some really cool shaped colored glass containers in shades of purple and amber that are housing votive candles. Some of the other tables have real pumpkins from the pumpkin patch that have been hollowed out, filled with water. Inside are votive candles floating in the pumpkins. It gives an interesting glow to the center of our round tables.

Behind the head table there are tall cylinder type vases filled with amber marbles that are holding tall, lanky birch twigs.

Tha caterer this evening is Hickory Park, bringing their mouth watering foods to The Capitol Room for all to enjoy.

The music has started and the guests are filing in. Let the celebration begin!

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With harvest time in progress it was only appropriate that we would all sit down and eat at the farmhouse table, Farmhouse Catering that is from Nevada, Iowa. Evie Hall and her crew made the trek down from Nevada to The Capitol Room  with a good old fashioned dinner with a dash of sophistication. The menu consisted of Chicken Cordon Bleu, creamy cheesy mashed potatoes, fresh green beans with bacon, a crisp house salad  and a  fresh baked roll. All of this was served buffet style.

Remember back when we would all pile in the car and head off to see family or friends that lived down a gravel lane out in the country? And what would be awaiting us but that Sunday dinner that we all love to call comfort food. So good that if you could you would go back for seconds and sometimes just a small dab called thirds. That’s Evie and her Farmhouse Catering.

Visit Evie’s website at www.farmhouse-catering.com or you can reach her by phone at 515-230-2717

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This weekend is the World Food Festival in the East Village. Talk about a quandry. There are so many foods to eat and sample that I think you could eat every meal there from now till the end of the festival which is Sunday evening and still have some food items that you would not be able to get to try. Today we tried the Vietnamese sandwich at the Banh Mi tent. One word sums it up. Fabulous!!! Don’t miss their Bubble tea either with the pearl size tapioca that you suck up through a huge straw. We shared the Passion fruit variety and simply loved it.  Our friends, Steve and Katie introduced us to Vietnamese food some time back. Katie and Steve often cook a Vietnamese menu for us and we relish the invitation to their home because it is soooo gooood!!! If you have not tried Vietnamese, you must. Now is the perfect opportunity.

So this weekend if you are looking for someplace to take your guests or meet a friend look no further. The World Food Festival is in town.

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We are asked frequently about the time all events need to be concluded at The Capitol Room.  Eevents need to be concluded and clean-up needs to be completed with the building vacated by 12:00 a.m. (midnight). What does clean-up entail you ask? Whatever was brought in by you as the renter goes back out with you. Party favors, centerpieces, the entertainment and their equipment, leftover food, chair covers, tablecloths and your guests. Cinderella had a curfew and so do we.

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Our crystal chandeliers sparkle and add the most elegant touch to your event. But what most people don’t know is that they are on dimmers. When we were in the process of developing The Capitol Room we happened to be invited to a family friends wedding around the same time. The food was great and the dance was fun but one of the main things that we noticed was the lighting. They were flourescent lights. Like the kind you find in a gym or a church basement fellowship hall. When it came time for the dance the only way to set a mood was to shut off the lights and that is exactly what they had to do.

That’s why at The Capitol Room we have all our crystal chandeliers on dimmer switches. When the chandeliers are fully lit the emit close to 800 watts per fixture. That’s bright!! But the beauty part is that we can dim them for your event. We typically set them at about half light for dinner and even lower for the dancing. With the votive candles sparkling on the tables, good food and drink being consumed and all your friends around you, that is when you realize that the mood has been set for a perfect evening.

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With everyone and everything going casino wild, the craze has now become popular in the corporate party circuit. A couple of our corporate clients as of recent have hosted casino nights. Talk about a good time had by all. The games are the same but play money is used. At the end of the night there are prizes awarded to the lucky and some of the not so lucky participants.

All the guests mingle, sip and nibble. The host usually provides tasty appetizers and some beverages and then lets the good times roll.

There are a couple of different companies in the area that provide the whole setup for a casino night. If you have interest in hosting a casino night for your friends, employees or clients give us a call.

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Friends-

The other day it happened…we were giving a tour of The Capitol Room and as we approached the drink center and told about the soft drinks with unlimited refills, our clients who were touring for an event of 200 guests brought up the following:  They mentioned the fact that many banquet facilities, hotels, caterers, etc., will charge a minimum of $1.50 per person, per refill for each and every soft drink.  Later on as we all sat down in the office the topic came up again.  This time we discussed it a little more in-depth and determined that if a person hosts 200 guests for an event they would save well over $300.00 ($1.50 x 200 guests = $300.00) JUST on soft drinks at The Capitol Room because all our soft drinks with unlimited refills are included in the rental.  It’s always cool to look at something through another person’s eyes.  I guess sometimes the obvious is just that…obvious.

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