My Dinner With Andrea

I'm sure lots of you have been waiting anxiously for me to post about dinner on Wednesday night, so I hope I don't disappoint.

Andre's at Monte Carlo was at the top of my dining 'to-do' list, and since Wednesdays are my night off, it was fairly easy to get reservations just a week in advance. My partner-in-crime Andrea had also just gotten a new job offer, so it was a two-fold mission--cross one restaurant off the list, and celebrate her good fortune. Once word got out that we'd be trying it out, longtime readers Dave and Mary from upstate NY emailed me and told me they'd be in town this week and would be up for a nice meal, so I made reservations for four instead of just two.

Wednesday was just about the longest day ever, and after salivating over their menu for a week, all I ate that entire day was a handful of Reese's Pieces, knowing that I'd be stuffed later that night. I managed to do myself a favor and sleep late that day, so I wouldn't be pacing around the house all day. But once I finally crawled out of bed I dug some nice clothes out of the back of the closet and got to ironing. I hadn't worn a tie in months or a coat in over a year, so I was going high-class.

Our plan was to meet up at the Houdini Lounge at 7pm for drinks and introductions. I was thinking of enjoying a pre-dinner cigar and a cocktail, so I actually got there about 20 minutes early and secured a table and four big comfy chairs. Lesson learned for the day--never order a Long Island Ice Tea right after you've done the whole Listerine thing. Worse than OJ after brushing your teeth.

Anyhow, I got some quality people-watching time in while waiting for everyone else to show up, but before I knew it I saw Andrea bounding up the steps to the lounge. Having never met Dave and Mary before, we were on the lookout for another well-dressed couple. Luckily we didn't have to wait long before seeing them. Introductions were made, drinks were ordered, and we enjoyed good conversation and cocktails before heading off to dinner. We had a few laughs as Dave had 'pulled an Eddie' and forgot to pack dark socks. So he was classin' it up with his white socks and dress shoes.

Our reservations were for 7:30, and we arrived at the restaurant right on time. We were seated immediately in the center of the intimate dining room by an actual French-speaking maitre 'd. It's not a big restaurant by any stretch of the imagination, and I wouldn't be surprised if their wine cellar was actually bigger than the dining room.

They brought us menus and a wine list to look over which kept us busy for quite some time. Our head waiter also took the time to explain the different dinner offerings, specials, the tasting menu, wine selection, etc. We briefly considered the tasting menu, but one of the rules was that the entire party had to have it. I was up for it until they said one of the entrees was salmon, so I pretty much lost interest at that point. Luckily everyone else agreed that the tasting menu wasn't what we wanted to do--Andrea just wanted a steak, and Mary said she wasn't hungry enough to try and put down six courses. Yes, they have two different tasting menus--a six course offering for $95 per person, and a seven-course meal for $115 per person. And that is without any wine pairings. I would love to go back and try it, but if I did I'd have to arrange transportation or get a room at the hotel after having 7 glasses of wine. (The waiter actually told me later that they could substitute grouper instead of salmon, but by that time we'd decided against the tasting menu).

While browsing the wine list and menu, some sliced warm baguettes and butter arrived to nibble on. Andrea decided on a glass of Pinot Noir, and I was happy to find out that they offered my favorite Pouilly Fuisse in half-bottle servings. Mary just found out that she's expecting, so she went with bottled water, and Dave ordered a Newcastle.

Once we got the beverages selected, it was on to our dinner choices. Andrea ordered a Caesar salad and the grilled filet of beef, while I ordered the lobster and King crab crepe and the 2lb Maine Lobster, Thermador style. Of course the waiter was the master of the upsell and talked me into the French Onion soup, which I'd surprisingly totally forgotten about. Mary ordered the lobster bisque and the pan-seared grouper special, while Dave went with the Calamari Steak for an appetizer and the salmon special for his entree.

As soon as all the business was taken care of, a group of waiters arrived at our table and simultaneously placed a small dish in front of each of us. We were told that it was a 'pre-appetizer to prepare the palate, compliments of the chef'. What it was was a small portion of 'Ahi tuna tartare with winter spice'. Honestly it didn't really look that good, and we all just kind of looked at each other, everyone afraid to take the first bite. But I'm always up for a culinary adventure, so I dug in first.

Oh. My. God.

It was unreal. I looked up from my plate, and I believe my first words were Holy shit you guys--you have to try this! It tasted almost like a prime steak. Unbelievably delicious. We all joked that we wanted to change our original orders and just eat that instead. Fortunately, it was a small portion, or we would've gorged ourselves on that and the baguettes.

Shortly thereafter the wine, salads, and appetizers arrived. It was fun because we had an army of waiters serving us, making sure all of the dishes were presented simultaneously. Andrea's salad looked really good, but it had real, whole, anchovies in it that kind of dismayed her a bit. She fished them out but said the salad was really good. My crepe was every bit as good as I imagined--a light pastry stuffed with shrimp, lobster, and crab covered in a creamy and buttery wine sauce. I savored every bite.

They made a big presentation of serving the bisque and Mary seemed to enjoy it quite a bit, as did Dave. But the most interesting thing to hit the table was Dave's calamari steak. It was a huge piece of squid that looked almost like a piece of veal or something. It had some sort of lemon sauce on it and he started raving about it as soon as he started eating it. He offered me a bite, and I was amazed. First of all, I've never seen such a huge serving of calamari--it's usually bite-sized pieces--but this was a huge steak, more than a quarter-inch thick and more tender than you could imagine, and it tasted wonderful. We were joking that a steak that size must of come from one of those Captain Nemo style giant squids that attacks submarines and such, but giant predator or not, it sure tasted great.

It took us quite a while to work our way through our appetizers, and after I finished my crepe my crock of French onion soup arrived in front of me. It was served piping hot covered in scorched gruyere cheese over a monster-sized crouton. It too was excellent--every bit as good as the offerings I've had at Paris and Binions Ranch. I only ate about half of it though, not wanting to temp fate since I was wearing a starched white shirt. I just knew that if I kept after it, as good as it was, I was sure to get a drop or two on my shirt and end up looking like one of the drunk conventioneers at the dice table.

They gave us a little break after the salads and appetizers, time to enjoy the wine and the conversation, before serving the main courses.

When they arrived, they were a sight to behold. I didn't pay much attention to Dave and Mary's fish dishes, but Andrea's filet was HUGE, and stacked up on some grilled veggies. It looked pretty good from where I was sitting. My 2-lb. lobster was served Thermador style, an Andre's specialty, they told me. Basically they steam the critter, split him open, and scoop out all the meat. Then they mix it with hollandaise sauce, butter, and button mushrooms and stuff it all back in, then bake it.

He was sitting on a bed of mashed potatoes and surrounded by grilled carrots, zucchini, and snap peas. And let me tell you how good it was--probably the best lobster I'd ever had. Rich, but sooooo tasty. I ate every bit of it. Andrea got almost every bit of her steak finished, but couldn't do that one last bite. But she said it was great, also. I tried a bit of Mary's grouper, and as good as it was, I don't think it was as tasty as the one I had at Ortanique. But it was still damn good. Dave said his salmon was very good, too, but since I can't eat that shiat I just took his word for it.

It took us awhile to get through our entrees, but with the fine wine, excellent food, and wonderful conversation, it was a most enjoyable time.

We knew we'd be pretty full, but we'd ordered the Grand Marnier souffle for dessert at the same time we ordered our meal (they need 45 minutes to prepare it). We'd only ordered one, but they brought enough plates and spoons for everyone. Dave and Mary ordered cappuccino also. The souffle was also pretty good. For some reason, I thought it would be chocolate, but it was white, and of course tasted like orange liqueur. It too was extremely rich, and between the four of us we didn't finish it. I have no idea how one person would do it after such a meal. But it was fun to watch them serve it by puncturing the top and making a production of pouring in the 'chilled Sabayon'.

Overall, it was a fantastic meal--Andre's is a true Special Occasion type of place.

The bill came, and I was surprised that I got off so cheap. I was expecting to pay $300+, but the tab for me and Andrea came to just $205 before tip. The biggest expense was wine--Andrea's one glass was $21 I think, and my half-bottle was about $45. Most of the wine on their list is at least $100 per bottle--there were a few bottles in the $70-$80 range, but not many. I shudder to think what the 7-course tasting menu would run with the wine pairings. It won't be cheap. That being said, the service was impeccable and the food was excellent. There were some truly surprising tastes presented to us, and we loved it all.

After dessert we lingered over coffee for a bit before deciding to head upstairs to the cigar lounge. The lounge was very cool, and they have full bar service up there, too. The upstairs also featured two private dining rooms that looked pretty elegant.

We sat in the lounge for a bit, but decided to head down to the casino instead, so we weren't there long.

It was just then 10pm, so dinner took just a few minutes over two hours. So it being a Wednesday night at 10pm at Monte Carlo--we headed to the brew pub to see Purple Reign again. Unfortunately, they'd been playing all week at my casino, so I was pretty much 'Reigned out'. We got a round of drinks, Andrea and I drunk dialed Angy and left a nice message for her, and watched a bit of the show. After they did the Morris Day bit, we decided to hit the casino.

Andrea started dragging, having been up since 6 am, and also had to get up early the next morning, so we said our goodbyes shortly after that. Dave and I played a little pai gow for awhile, while Mary lurked around before heading back to their hotel room. I managed to make $20 before we decided to hit the poker room.

I was a little apprehensive about playing poker--I truly haven't played in over a year. I thought I might be a little rusty, but I still had some mad skillz to draw on. I wasn't catching any cards early on, so I was just kind of floating along there at the 3-6 table, but after about two hours I found myself running over the table and raking some good pots. I got my $100 buy-in up to $195, with the ultimate goal of racking up $200 before going home and going to bed. Unfortunately that was not to be, as I got involved in a huge pot, flopping four to the nut flush, making it on the turn, only to see the board pair on the river, leaving me with only $165 left. I was a little pissed, but that's poker. It was enough for me to realize that I could still conjure up my A-game when I needed to, so I'm not so worried about the March Madness III poker tournament coming up next month.

Dave had left before I did but told me that they'd come by on Friday night to play at my table. So he missed the big pot, but right after that hand our table broke and my evening in the poker room was over.

Not being exactly tired, I went back to the pai gow table. It was just me and another girl at the table who was also a casino dealer up in Canada. Out of professional courtesy, our dealer proceeded to deal herself nothing but junk the entire time and I managed to cash out an hour later with a $200 win. My best session ever at the pai gow table!

By that time it was after 4am and I decided to fetch the Ghetto Sled from the valet and head on home. Of course, I was hungry again, so I made a quick stop at Jack in the Box drive-thru for a breakfast croissant.

Somehow it just didn't measure up to dinner the night before.

Mikey