He Said: Coup Des Tartes is always good, but murder mysteries make it great

Who put the hit out on the mob boss? We were enveloped into a mystery the moment we walked in the door at Coup Des Tartes.

As part of an ongoing series of shows, Coup Des Tartes held a murder mystery dinner Saturday night. For a relatively reasonable price of $65 per person, we not only partook in the mystery but we were treated to a three-course meal of the always well-prepared food.

Unlike at the old location, the restaurant’s newer location has a full bar with plenty of wonderful wines to select from or cocktails to imbibe in (of course, those will cost you extra).

I was lucky to be given a role and had a few lines to speak. As Rocky the boxer, I had to keep a lookout for some characters that would look to me to answer a few questions.

Each table also had a clue and, at a particular moment, we were lead from one table to another to exchange clues. It was light-hearted fun and the actors kept you in the scene the entire dinner.

Unfortunately, none of our group got the answer right but I can tell you it wasn’t me. Suspiciously enough, the killer’s real-life boyfriend got the answer right. I won’t speculate how that happened but we were all winners with the dinner and everyone had a fun time.

We started off with an antipasto plate that included the typical meats and cheese along with some olives. It was well-plated and held off our stomachs as we began the show.

The main choices were amazing and very substantial — salmon with coconut risotto, spinach and candied walnuts; Moroccan lamb shank with stone fruits, veggies and couscous; short rib pappardelle with pancetta sauce or chicken cordon bleu with roasted potatoes and asparagus.

As a huge lover of lamb, I went with the lamb shank and was so impressed. It was tender, flavorful and quite large in size. The meat fell of the bone as I went to cut it off and it was a very lean piece, which is always nice for lamb.

The couscous was sitting in an au jus type sauce and was a perfect accompaniment for the dish. The stone fruits were just sweet enough to balance the dish and surprise the taste buds.

For dessert, we were treated to a homemade cannoli with a sweet white filling mixed with chocolate chips — just enough to satisfy the sweet tooth.

As successful as these past two murder mystery dinners have been, these types of events are sure to continue. The restaurant is perfect for it, as they conduct the dinner in their rather large banquet room addition they completed on the house.

The next event is Elixir D’Amour, a burlesque and jazz dinner with another beautiful looking three-course prix fixe meal included, for $90 on Oct. 22.

Of course, if you just can’t wait for the next murder mystery you can always go and enjoy a spectacular dinner at Coup Des Tartes any time.

For more information on Coup Des Tartes, visit WhereShouldWeEat.com.

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