By Gloria Glyer

Esquire Grill, a member of the ever-expanding family of Paragary restaurants, offers a sophisticated setting with big-city overtones. Not snobbish, mind you, but clubby. The grill has gained fame (and fortune?) because it is one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's favorite dining spots. It's also a gathering place for politicos, as it's an easy walk from state office buildings.


Darrell Corti (yes, that Darrell Corti) arrived for our lunch with wine bottles in hand. He had read Mike Dunne's story in The Sacramento Bee about the winemaking monks of the Abbey of New Clairvaux in Tehama County. Corti checked the wine department at Corti Brothers and brought along two for us to try: the 2003 St. James Block Tehama County Tempranillo and the 2003 Syrah. (Esquire charges a $15-a-bottle corkage fee.) Diva Bernice Hagen rounded out those choices with a Jed Steel 2001 Syrah.


On to the food: Everyone from manager Phillip Dinh to server Shannon Carrasco made us feel welcome, and they were ready to do whatever we asked. For starters, we ordered crab cakes; chicken and shiitake spring rolls with soy-scallion dipping sauce; cornmeal-fried calamari with smoked-tomato cocktail sauce; and barbecued-pork quesadilla. Then we moved on to the main course, choosing Dungeness crab Louie; Carolina barbecued-pork sandwich; blackened Pacific red snapper; pasta with chicken in a cheddar cream sauce; marinated skirt steak with chimichurri sauce; and the special of the day: grilled ahi with black bean and corn salad and pineapple salsa. From the list of side dishes, we selected organic baby greens with stone fruit, goat cheese and walnut cider vinaigrette; a wedge of iceberg lettuce with blue-cheese dressing; and macaroni and cheese.


My favorites? The grilled ahi, prepared with a professional touch, benefited from the sweet and sassy pineapple salsa; the very al dente black beans and corn could have used more flavor. The cornmeal added texture to the calamari, which were further enhanced by the smoked-tomato cocktail sauce-zippy and memorable. The quesadilla was flavorful and large enough to share.


The barbecued pork was ensconced in a fluffy, not-too-big roll and served with cole slaw flecked with poppy seeds. Even though anything blackened seems passé these days, the red snapper had crunch and flavor. The skirt steak comes with a choice of sauces; we selected the Argentine steak sauce called chimichurri. Creamy mashed potatoes accompanied the steak. The chicken pasta was heavy and could have used more smoked bacon.


Of the side dishes, the organic greens were lacking in flavor; the iceberg wedge was neither crisp nor bright green, and the dressing needed more blue cheese. I found the macaroni and cheese too soupy and thought it should have had a crusty top, but others liked it that way.


I have yet to sample the s'more sundae from Esquire's dessert menu-the kitchen was out of marshmallows the day we were there. But we did have Valrhona chocolate layer cake with malted-milk créme anglaise; banana cream pie with vanilla-bean pastry cream and caramel sauce; New York cheesecake with blueberry sauce; blueberry and peach cobbler with buttermilk ice cream; and butterscotch créme brulee with a pecan shortbread cookie. The cobbler was the right touch for the season. I liked the shortbread cookie better than the créme brulée, and the chocolate cake was heavier than I wanted. Speaking of cookies, why don't restaurants offer a selection of freshly baked cookies on the dessert menu?

*For the rest of this article, pick up a copy of Sacramento Magazine's November issue.