Quick Bite: The $12 Brisket Special at Capital Bar and Grill.

During Little Rock Restaurant Month's downtown-focused first week, Capital Bar and Grill inside The Capital Hotel Hotel downtown is offering a beef brisket sandwich with housemade barbecue sauce and fries for $12. I think it needs to become part of the regular menu. Here's why.

A Pie Lover's Dream All February at Capital Bar and Grill.

You missed this bourbon chocolate pecan pie.  Sorry.

Capital Bar and Grill is doing something I've hoped for a long time now -- presenting a dizzying array of pies to consume with gusto -- far more than your run of the mill meringue in chocolate or coconut, but a selection of delicious pies submitted by the entire staff at the Capital Hotel, vetted by a prime staff and presented, one each night during the entire month of February, to an eager crowd.

And that first pie right there... the bourbon chocolate pecan pie... you just missed it.

Don't gripe at me about it -- I shared it on Facebook and Twitter and even absorbed a slice myself, and you really missed out.

February is that month which we all should endeavor to keep close to our hearts -- it's National Pie Month, and while Arkansas has yet to be definitively lauded as the land of pie, it's merely a matter of time.  CBG's devotion to a singular idea of sharing these amazing pies is one I can get behind.

The piemakers of legend.

I sat down with CBG chef Zach Pullam and Capital Hotel pastry chef Jamie Hornby this past week to discuss the idea.  It's a simple one, sure -- gather all the best ideas about pies in a hotel and then present them, one each dinner, for a month. But it's far more than that.  Amongst the offerings are the black bottom pie (Grav Weldon's favorite, one offered few places), brandied cherry -- even Nutella.

Grav Weldon went early on the first day to photograph the introductory pie and another -- a test run at a coconut cream pie that he's now declared the best he's tried (so sorry, Miss Anna's).  Throughout the month we're going to be going back repeatedly to see if we can photograph them all.

Sound ambitious?  Seems a necessity to me, with us being such fans and proponents of the Arkansas pie agenda.

For your convenience, here are the pies and their corresponding dates:

1.  Bourbon chocolate pecan pie.  You missed out on this rich dark chocolate wonder with delicately roasted pecans and a nice slug of bourbon on the end.

2.  Tradtional blueberry.

3.  S'mores.

4.  Black bottom.

5.  Banana toffee.

6.  Grasshopper.

7.  Lemon meringue.

8.  Dark and Stormy (yes, like the delicious alcoholic concoction).

9.  Chocolate-Mocha Cream.

10.  Malted Walnut.

11.  Custard.  I understand this to be an egg custard flavored with vanilla.

12.  Ancho Chile Fudge.  Ole!

13.  Traditional blackberry.

14.  Chocolate Lover's -- of course, it's Valentine's Day!

15.  Snicker's.

16.  Traditional strawberry.

17.  Chocolate chess.

18.  Apple streusel.

19.  Key lime.

20.  Brandied cherry.

21.  Peanut butter silk.

22.  Lemon ice box.

23.  Traditional raspberry.

24.  Butterscotch.

25.  Coconut cream. The test batch was marvelous -- with coconut notes both in cream and custard and a nice flavor at the end reminiscent of husk -- what I mean to say is, tastes like fresh-grated to me!

26.  Pumpkin praline.

27.  Nutella.

28.  Mississippi mud pie.

And now, the rest of the photographs... just for a little salivation.

I know, it's not pie, but Grav did take this photo of loaves of
crusty bread ready for so much... 

Burger joint of the week: Capital Bar and Grill.

• GRAV WELDON
• PHENOMENAL: Pimento cheeseburger at CBG

It's rare that I ever give an absolute on anything. I mean, I can say "it's one of the best (fill in the blank) in (fill in the other blank)" with just about anything. But without a doubt, the burger I experienced atCapital Bar and Grill recently has to be the best burger I have ever tasted in my life.

How good? So good I've named it the best burger I've had over at Serious Eats. I mean, I am that enthusiastic about it. That's an unsponsored, unsolicited opinion I'm going to stick to unless and until I find something better.

Arkansas Flavor at Capital Bar and Grill.

That, my friends, is a bowl of fried black-eyed peas... which are complimentary to diners at the Capital Bar & Grill in the Capital Hotel.

I've been asked quite a bit lately... what are fried black-eyed peas?  How are they made?  WHY fried black-eyed peas?  Hey, let me tell you what... it's better than peanuts in a bar.  Those little crunchy morsels are addictive.  And they go great with a little iced tea.

I have been remiss in talking about CBG... though I've sent many Twitter followers that way.   I mean, we're talking a classy establishment, one of those places that lists whole dollar amounts on the menu rather than dickering with cents, a place in the evening where you fully expect to see hep singles mingling in their fancy clothes.  However, get to talking lunch, and you have a spot where you can really entertain an out-of-towner.  After all, what's more intriguing to a non-Arkansaywer than a fried black-eyed pea?

Oh, well, maybe a homemade Moon Pie.You see, CBG's chefs have taken what's quintessentially Arkansas fare and raised it to a high-falutin' level.  But they've done it in a way where most folks can still afford to enjoy it.

Take, for example, pimento cheese.  Yes, I have a soft spot for the delicacy, and I am starting to think it (along with cheese dip, pie, and jelly) is one of those foods Arkansas could be known for.  Alongside all the other epicurean delights on the menu... the simple dish of pimento cheese, served with homemade soda crackers.  It's got a nice smoky flavor to it, more than just a mix of mayo and cheese and pimentos, it has this hint of royalty to it.  Very fine.

CBG does some great dinner options like steak and mahi-mahi and such, but for lunch you're missing out if you don't try the $8 weekly blue plate specials -- think home food with an elegant touch.

However, you'll do fine on the sandwiches, especially that Little Rock classic called the Sloppy Roast Beef ($9).  In New Orleans it might be referred to as debris with gravy; here, it's a very wet fork-worthy sandwich of note, served up on crusty bread with some of those fantastic Parmesan Fries I like so much.  A winner.

But it's in the dessert arena where you really feel the gentle amusement of the chefs.  I mean, seriously, root beer floats and Moon Pies?  But when you're talking about a float made from local brewery Diamond Bear's Diamond Rock root beer and homemade vanilla ice cream... or a Moon Pie confection created from housemade marshmallow.... you're talking about a grand reinterpretation of classics.  Don't worry, if you really want to try something challenging check out the bacon ice cream when they have it.  Desserts, by the way, run you $4.

Capital Bar & Grill, as I mentioned, is in the Capital Hotel downtown.  They have free valet parking, which rocks when you're trying to get in and out and don't want to deal with parking yourself.  For more information, call (501) 374-7474 or check out the website.