Tel. 288-8999.
 It was one of those rare evenings that everything seemed to be just right, as if this had been mysteriously planned and personally dedicated to you a long time ago. Restospy's visit to California Dream in Old Montreal, Marie Bouchard's 10-month old restaurant, was lined up with all the planets. It may not be apparent from previous reports, but Restospy has a weakness for architectural and artistic beauty, especially when there are no waitresses around. He knew, yes he was sure, that the soirée in the company of two ladies of the oppositely begendered sex would be a salivating success, as soon as he saw the premises between the busy wiper blades of his fine automobile.
 In Montreal, the race to renovate and out-design the previous best restaurant started about ten years ago on lower Saint Laurent. In 2003, California Dream has earned the right to wear the elusive crown for a few months at least.
With 8-meter ceilings and a gorgeous hardwood floor, almost nothing can go wrong. Still, each detail in the interior, from the toilet doors to the bar and the Philip Starck chairs contributes to a design tour-de-force. Through the wall-sized windows, diners have a wide angle view of the old port, and are able to check out several Panamanian freighters.
Our friendly Portuguese waiter was the proudest man in the house. After our meal, one of my two companions got a tour of the house, which she reported to be unbelievably clean and organized, with separate sections for meat and fish products, and even a private bakery. The kitchen is headed by one of Montreal's grandmasters of cheffery, Jose Ignacio Rodriguez, a Spanish food artist who used to work at Bice and Mediterraneo, and his prize-winning Portuguese wife Annabella.
 The wine menu is entirely Californian ($50/bottle and up, the average being about $110), so we opted for a splendid Beringer Chardonnay, vintage 2000. The food menu shouts "fusion" but lacks the standard vegetarian and pasta dishes.
Jose and Annabella experiment aggressively in the combination of meat and seafood with original vegetables or rare fruits, starting with the
"amuse-gueule", a perfect slice of raw tuna lazily relaxing on a red beet concoction.
The sweet and fruity Californian cuisine works subliminally on the senses of the diners. Those that resist get swept up by the smooth alternative music and classy acid jazz.
 And the sole survivor of this multisensual onslaught (Restospy) is left wondering—why? What will happen to the unsuspecting American diners at the next table? Is this a psychological test by Canada's Secret Service to see what design-drunk patrons are capable of? Why is it called California DREAM? What is in the San Pellegrino water? Is there a webcam in the washroom?
Of our three appetizers and three main courses, only one was unsweetened.
Caramelized veggies abound, like the caramelized endives in the scallops appetizer ($15) or the caramelized onions on the oversized and perfectly tender filet mignon ($32). Tropical fruits are everywhere, from the mango and citronella sauce decorating the tuna carpaccio ($14) to the "salsa" on a delicious grouper whose crispy-spicy black outer coat contrasted beautifully with its sexy white meat ($33). The Thai duck salad in an exotic sweet-and-sour sauce of cucumbers ($12) added to the orgasmic experience.
 The plump Bordeaux-colored raw tuna steak with a sesame crust on a risotto bed with fresh wasabi and a red Japanese ponzu (konbu+lime+soyu) sauce ($35) made one of my two ladies, already purring with pleasure, uncontrollably happy. The only non-sweet dish, the Galician-style appetizer of octopus (pieuvres) ($14), was successfully executed by our Iberian chefs.
Desserts ($7.50-$10) include a crème brûlée, l'essence de tonka ($7.50) and "death by chocolate" (sic!) lurking underneath some ice cream with some berries witnessing the crime nearby ($8.50) (see the picture).
The gastrodecadent and decosensual experience left the three of us pleasantly exhausted and $289 poorer. We went straight to bed. Dreaming of Annabella.— Reviewed by RestoSpy
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