CJ Montana's kept the diners merry

BY DON WILNO

I recently learned the hard way that you can pick your friends, but you can't pick
your friends' friends. There are other versions to this tale of woe, but I will leave it at
that. I'm sure you have heard them all, too.

Of course, now that I know better, it's too late. But from here on out, there will
be no more night's out with anyone I haven't hand-picked … and most of those friends of mine know who will be joining me.

Anyone else, you can forget it. I'm not letting anyone spoil the one night out a
week I get where I can kick up my heels and really enjoy myself (at the boss' expense).

The person on this visit to CJ Montana's Pub and Grille, 560 Shrewsbury Ave., Tinton Falls, will remain nameless, but he knows who he is.

As for my real friends, my longtime friends, George Andretta and Bob Clark, I can only hope to enjoy life as they now do … fishing, traveling and just having fun.

That's the life, as I am finding out finally, having just returned from Fort
Lauderdale, Fla., where I could easily move to in a New York minute, savoring such fine restaurants at Mark's Las Olas, where Eric Longpre' is the best waiter in the Sunshine State.

For now, because I am still a working stiff, I'll take these nights out as often
as I can and try to enjoy them as often as I can (when not sneaking off to Florida).

Montana's … for those of you who can remember such things … was once the Airport Inn, across the street from the defunct Red Bank Airport.

If you want to know where the establishment's new name came from, I suggest asking co-owner Dennis Connelly. He has an interesting story to tell.

The "J'' comes from partner Richard Jones while the "C'' comes from Connelly, who will have to tell you where Montana comes from.

In the meantime, savor the good food at Montana's, as we did the other night along with Andretta's son Christopher, who has become quite a fisherman, too, along with his father and Mr. Clark, my personal attorney.

Not surprisingly, we sampled a variety of the bill of fare offered at
Montana's, beginning with an array of appetizers: ""Our Original'' sweet potato fries
($4.95), gourmet breaded onion rings ($6.95), firecracker shrimp ($8.95), hummus dip ($8.95) and hand-breaded calamari ($11.95).

And that was just for starters … if you can believe that.

Bartender Dena Marzarella of Red Bank (working this night with Michelle
Montgomery of West Long Branch) took our main-course order without writing down one word. And did so while also making a drink order in the dining room.

Impressive, I would say.

She was right on the money on every dish: Christopher's blackened salmon ($19.95), George's Ahi tuna ($22.95), Bob's Kansas City New York Strip Steak with Montana smashers ($29.95), and my Steak Luau ($23.95).

While savoring our main course dish, it got very quiet at the bar, where we were sitting, which is a good sign of good food.

I must say I loved the Steak Luau, a marinated rib eye Connelly told me is
marinated at least 24 hours. It was very tasty, topped with a nice slice of pineapple.

Only George Andretta let me sample his dish, the Ahi tuna, seared rare with gingered pepper blends with chilled almond pasta salad. It has a wonderful kick to it.

There were no doggy bags for this crew, believe me, another good sign. The chef should have been pleased to see those empty dishes come back to the kitchen.

I topped it off with a dish of vanilla ice cream ($2.95), which drew
ridicule from one person at the bar, who has made his last trip out with me. He hasn't learned not to poke fun at the master of sampling good food … me. I'm the king on these nights.