Little Ears and Smoky Pizza

On Thursday, AK’s post on Monroe’s Italian restaurant appeared on DCist. In addition to Trattoria da Franco, this is one of our Italian standbys. The food is surprisingly good for a restaurant that seems content with its identity as a neighborhood trattoria. And their honor system policy with the large bottles of serviceable red wine at each table makes them one of our favorite Thursday night destinations. Here’s what we had:

Monroe’s Bread: A thin pizza crust baked with olive oil and topped with rosemary, kosher salt, parmesan, and chopped fresh basil. This is one of the most original homemade breads we’ve eaten. Diners have the option of enjoying it along with their olive tapenade or eggplant caviar. We usually opt for both, although, in truth, the bread does its best work on its own.

The Corona Bean Salad: A delightfully light salad of field greens, large soft white beans (possibly butter beans), mixed amid thinly sliced red onions and roasted red peppers, all tossed in the house vinaigrette. We recommend, crunching a bunch of fresh black pepper all over the salad.

Orecchiete with Sausage and Radicchio: Al dente “ears” of pasta mixed with a rich sauce of a mix of sweet and spicy sausage and cabbagey radicchio.

Pizza Alla Mo: It may not look all that impressive compared to the blistery pies served up at Pizzeria Paradiso or Two Amys, but this is a powerful pie with a three dimensional sauce that blends smokey bacon, sweet red peppers, and tart tomatoes. You can smell its smokiness as soon as the plate hits the table. It's topped with rich and fruity green olives and mozzarella, all baked on Monroe’s signature thin crust.




Panna Cotta: A light and refreshing eggless custard with fresh raspberries, raspberry sauce, and whipped cream. See if you can persuade your waiter to leave off the raspberry sauce and the whipped cream, as they merely detract from the simple perfection of the panna cotta.

Enjoy pizza and pasta at Monroe’s:

Monroe's
603 Commonwealth Avenue
Alexandria, Virginia
(703) 548-5792

—AC & AK