THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 17, 1994 TAG: 9411160057
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Donna Reiss
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
SAMPLE NEW French wine and nouvelle American cuisine while helping families in crisis.
``Nouveau Nite'' at Five-01 City Grill will welcome the 1994 release of George DuBoeuf's Beaujolais Nouveau, beginning at 6 p.m. Monday.
Cory Beisel, Tom Weber and Gaye Collins of City Grill and the nearby Big Tomato will prepare specialty hors d'oeuvres, including wood-smoked tenderloin with apple-orange chutney and prosciutto-wrapped shrimp. David Petretto and Leanna will entertain with vocals and acoustic guitar.
Proceeds will benefit Samaritan House, which provides emergency and transitional shelter for homeless families and those affected by domestic violence.
Tickets to Nouveau Nite are $40 a person, $70 a couple. Call the City Grill at 425-7195 or Samaritan House at 430-2642. SUDDENLY MONROE'S
For two years the carnivorous orange fish on Shore Drive lured diners to Piranha: An Eating Frenzy, where chef-owner Monroe Duncan has tried several styles of food - from mild to spicy, from paella to patio-grilled barbecue and crab boils.
Now, at the same location, Duncan returns to his roots with Monroe's, and a new menu that brings back local favorites from nearly three decades in the restaurant business.
Some personal favorites from Duncan-watching over the past two decades: Crawfish Chappell's on angel hair pasta, roasted asparagus with creme fraiche, conch fritters, shrimp Savoy Seay (which goes back to 1961 and the legendary Nations Room), seafood mixed grill, and splendidly spicy etouffee.
Duncan promises an updated decor including a fireplace in the lounge, creamy linens and sedate servers' uniforms.
But the Edenic mural will remain, Duncan says: ``I lost a friend over it, and it cost too much.''
Call Monroe's at 588-0100. THE GREAT PUMPKIN BREW
If you don't like vegetables but do like beer, there's a brew for you.
Mahi Mah's at the Oceanfront Ramada celebrates Mondays with beer-tasting specials, such as Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale. The 22-ounce bottle with a festive fall label and a hearty, slightly sweet spice has just enough pumpkin flavor to conjure up the harvest.
Buffalo Bill, publisher of Beer Magazine, resides in Hayward, Calif., but has the pumpkin beer brewed in Iowa in October and November only, so hurry. He also brews Alimony Ale (``the bitterest brew in America'').
With Mahi Mah's raw bar a few steps away, you can swallow a few freshly shucked bivalves with your beer. Monday nights from 5 until 9, beer prices range from 75 cents for domestics on tap to $5.75 for some of the more exotic microbrews. With multibottle flights, you can sample several and collect points toward a trip to Germany.
Call Mahi Mah's at 437-8030. HILTON REDUX
Edward Nowakowski has come back to the kitchens of the Airport Hilton.
When the hotel opened at the end of 1985, Nowakowski was executive chef. He left to open Bistro Rotisserie in Virginia Beach in April 1993. Until it closed last month, the neighborhood cafe served a top-notch moderately priced buffet at lunch and dinner.
Charcoal-rotisseried chicken, lamb, pork and beef were typical dishes, along with seafood, soup, salad and desserts. But, Nowakowski says, the location on South Independence Road was less than ideal. And the casual atmosphere of a bistro offered little opportunity for the more sophisticated preparations that had won him a number of culinary awards.
As director of food services at the hotel, Nowakowski is enthusiastic about adding the special touches he has developed from his formal culinary training in Poland, and years of experience in American restaurants.
Banquets, for example, will feature ice and chocolate sculptures. At Antiquities restaurant, rack of lamb and saddle of venison will be carved tableside. Homemade desserts will include mocha torte, sacher torte and Black Forest cake.
Working once again with chef David Browne and maitre d' Earl Branche, Nowakowski plans to enhance this already elegant restaurant. Phone 481-8000 for reservations. COFFEE CORNER
The newest coffee house in town is a corner of Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Virginia Beach. You can buy a book, magazine or newspaper and then linger over a cup of Starbuck's West Coast coffees. There also are pastries and sandwiches from Virginia Beach's Sugar Plum Bakery and biscotti from New York.
With seating for about 35, the cafe, like the bookstore, is open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. QUICK BITES
At the 1994 annual convention of the Ramada Inn hotel chain, Gus' Mariner Restaurant, headed by executive chef Tom Evaldi, was selected best in competition. More than 500 restaurants were considered for this annual award. Gus' specializes in seafood and offers an ocean view at the North End of Virginia Beach. . . . The year of its reopening after a devastating fire, Alexander's on the Bay has won several distinctions. The Virginia Beach restaurant was honored with a Gold Cluster award from the Virginia Wine Growers Board in September for its promotion of Virginia wines. Co-owner Wayne Smith was elected president of the Virginia Beach Restaurant Chapter of the Virginia Travel & Hospitality Association. This bayside restaurant emphasizes seafood in an upscale casual setting. MEMO: Send restaurant news, along with your name and a daytime phone number,
to a la carte, c/o Flavor, The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, 150
W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510, or send e-mail to
dreiss@infi.net.
by CNB