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| - I found myself at Andre's on a Saturday evening after many recommendations. We were seated promptly by the very friendly hostess after arriving late. (We later discovered she was more than the hostess, she was upper management!) We had high expectations going in.
We had requested a specific seating area and a specific waitress to give us the ultimate Andre experience. We were slightly disappointed when Laurie wasn't our waitress after all.
After perusing the menu and debating between the tasting menu or going all out on appetizers, we decided on the latter. When the waiter finally returned to take our order, we began by telling him our interest in the appetizers first. He was quick to point out that we should really decide on our main entrees while we order our appetizers and was adamant about this, indicating he would return when we had made our final decision. I was looking up at this man in disbelief. Surely, he must have misunderstood us. I then pointed out, "Uh, we plan on ordering all the appetizers..." "Oh."
After he took our order, my companion and I looked at each other in complete bewilderment. We actually felt intimated to order due to his aggressiveness. He was a bit pushy on the wine list, which was a bit challenging to order from since we were going to go through so many different flavors from the appetizers alone.
Compliments of the chef, we began with a cold butternut squash soup and a tapenade of some sort on a blini. The soup was yummy, but served in a tiny bowl that was challenging to drink from. My companion was impressed with the tapenade thing more so than I was.
Next to arrive was the Caspian Sea Caviar, Golden Osestra served with buckwheat blinis and condiments (hard boiled egg yolks, egg whites, chives, sour green, capers, and red onions). The caviar was lovely, but the blinis took away from the smooth taste. We ended up ditching the blinis and using the french bread that had arrived earlier. We asked the waiter if they had crackers or some other bread for the caviar, but could not come up with anything else. We found that the french bread did not take away from the extravagance of the caviar.
Next to arrive was the Scandinavian Smoked Salmon and Caviar Parfait, Creamy Lemon-Dill Dressing and Horseradish Cream ($16). Can I say yum? The combination of flavors going on was absolutely wonderful to the palate. There were so many layers going on and it was such a joy to eat.
Next was the Tuna Tartare on Eggplant Caviar with Green Tomato Brunoise and Lavendar Sesame Seed Toast ($13). The tuna was good, a bit average. The tomatoes were okay with the tuna, but not particularly tasty on its own.
An Heirloom Tomato and Jumbo Lump Crab Salad with a Ginger Sorbet and Red Onion Vinaigrette ($17) graced our table next. This was such a light and refreshing salad. The sorbet was a fabulous touch and really pulled the dish together. You felt good after eating this.
Moving onto the warmer dishes, our Cauliflower Soup with Duck Confit arrived. I normally would not have chosen such a soup, but was surprised with the flavors they were able to create in what is usually a pretty bland vegetable. The buttery toasted bits on the top were a lovely accent, but the real surprise came when we discovered the duck in the bottom of the bowl. Salty, but very yummy with the soup.
The most disappointing dish of all - Lobster Sausage with Spicy Crayfish Sauce and Fleuron ($15). It was mushy and I could not be bothered. We learned this was one of their more popular appetizers, but this was left untouched by us.
The Jumbo Sea Scallops wrapped in a Macadamia Nut Crust with Citrus Beurre Blanc and Mango Chutney ($15) came next. They were light and tasty, but I think I felt a bit burned out by now with our hot apps.
We still had the Escargots de Bourgogne ($13) coming. Six snails simmering in butter and herbs were laid in front of us. I was reminded of the garlic and parsley taste from the Gordon Biersch's Garlic fries. I wasn't so impressed with this dish.
We had been waiting for this dish all evening - Foie Gras from their daily special menu. The savory taste of the foie gras with the sweetness of the bread underneath was not a pleasant combination. This was also combined with a sweet sauce and pine nuts. Although the foie gras itself was good, it was far from spectacular.
To close our meal, the Sauteed Veal Sweetbreads Provencale with Egg Yolk and Ricotta Cheese Filled Ravioli ($17) came. The ravioli tasted quite plain to me, flavorless. And the sweetbreads were nothing to rave about.
We never made it to dessert.
In such fine establishments, I usually expect the waiters to wait until all the diners are seated before putting our plates down in front of us. This was not the case for us. It was a bit awkward to have our food sitting there as I waited for my companion to return.
A bit noisy.
Valet parking.
Pics above!
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