All this talk about fresh hand-made pasta was just too much yesterday so I went out to Mona Lisa to see what the place was all about. I imagined something very teeny-tiny, and was instead surprised by a large Italian-import market. For those of you that have had the good luck to live or travel in Italy, and crave something from the “old world”, come check out Mona Lisa. I guarantee its not anywhere near as pretentious as all of you think Foods Of All Nations is.

The first thing you notice when you walk in are the pizza’s hanging out on the front-counter. They looked dam good. If I had known this was a semi-lunch spot I would have skipped Sticks and had pizza instead. A couple people were there just for the pizza, so it should be at least decent.

The second thing you notice is how big the store is. From a pure real estate perspective, its surprising to see so little of the store’s footprint dedicated to retail. While it definitely tones down the cluttered feel of other stores, it seems like they are either out of alot of things OR they really aren’t that into the whole market concept.

The third thing you notice is the open kitchen in the rear. This looks very similar to a catering kitchen. There was a gentlemen back there making a pizza with a lot of love. This I know because he spent about 5 minutes making sure the crust looked right before he popped it in the oven. They do not use a normal oven either…its one of those fancy pizza ovens that looks something like this:

After taking a good look at everything, I decided on what kind of pasta and sauce I would like for dinner tonight…and what could sound better than squid ink pasta with mushroom sauce? Pretty much nothing. So I place my order at the front counter and the lady asks what kind of pasta I wanted….I HAVE A CHOICE!?!?!?!?! Yes, apparently I did. I could choose from:

• fettuccini
• linguini
• spaghetti
• angel hair

At times I hate having so many choices with food, but at that moment I felt like a king. I asked if they could do it pappardelle style, and she said she could, but would have to cut it by hand…and I felt bad, I mean, why would I want to make her work more? So I decide on the linguini because it has the width closest to pappardelle and she asks if I want to watch her cut it….fresh cut pasta….why wouldn’t I?

I follow her to the back. It seems the fourth thing I should have noticed of Mona Lisa was the pasta prep station. There are two large Beverage Air style refrigerators with baking sheets stacked high with pasta sheets. She pulls out a sheet with a giant black square. Pulling the top pasta sheet off (which she says is used to keep the moisture in the sheets below it), she reveals a stack about 8″ tall of squid ink pasta sheets. It was like dying and going to Italian heaven. She says about two sheets=1lb of pasta, which is all I needed. I had this fantasy of her using a hand crank to literally make the pasta by hand…that is not the case. It seems in the last 700 years since Marco Polo returned from China, the pasta industry has moved past the hand crank (at least for commercial operations), to something powered by electricity!

For those unfamiliar with fresh pasta, it cooks quickly, VERY QUICKLY. The sticker on the bag said 90 seconds in boiling water. Unfortunately I was cooking on a generic electric stove whose roaring boil turned to a negative simmer the minute I put the pasta in…Because the boil was interrupted I had to wait a good 3-4 minutes before the water was boiling again…then things became very interesting. If any of you have had Asian friends obssessed with eating shredded, dried squid, you remember that fishy smell. Well as soon as the pasta was boiling, the steam smelled like shredded squid, BADASS.

I tossed it with the mushroom sauce and some butter and served it immediately. Lets just say this is the best pasta dish you will eat in town period, and it was under $12, AND it could feed four people. Yes, Vivace eat your heart out, you are seriously replaced. This is the way pasta was meant to be eaten.

Final Thoughts

Don’t buy your pasta anywhere else…let go of the temptation to buy dried factory made pasta at the supermarket for $.99-$2.99/lb, and give in to the local artisans at $3.99/lb, I promise you will not be disappointed.

For your salivating pleasure, here are the “menu” offerings at Mona Lisa Pasta:

Fresh Pasta ($3.99/lb):

• Egg
• Spinach
• Basil
• Tomato
• Lemon Pepper
• Black Pepper
• Garlic & Parsley
• Garlic & Rosemary
• Roasted Garlic
• Wild Mushroom
• Saffron
• Whole Wheat
• Squid Ink

These are available in the cuts mentioned above.

Pesto Sauces:

• Basil $5.95
  • Fresh basil, pine nuts, blended cheeses, garlic, extra virgin olive oil
• Sun Dried Tomato $5.95
  • Sun dried tomatoes, blended cheeses, garlic, pine nuts, and extra virgin olive oil
• Tuscan Olive $5.95
  • Calamata olives, Sicilian green olives, house blend cheeses, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and capers
• Artichoke $5.45
  • Artichokes, house blend cheeses, garlic, fresh basil and extra virgin olive oil
• White Bean $4.45
  • Cannellini beans, garlic, lemon juice, parsley, rosemary and extra virgin olive oil
• Roasted Red Pepper $5.45
  • Roasted red peppers, garlic, fresh basil, house blend cheese
• Gorgonzola Artichoke Spread $5.95
  • Cream Cheese, Gorgozola Cheese, Artichoke Hearts, Garlic & Spices

Ravioli (Keep frozen until ready to cook • Drop in boiling water for 4-6 minutes • Made with egg pasta unless specified)

• Cheese $7.95/lb
  • Stuffed with ricotta, mozzarella romano cheeses and fresh basil
• Spinach $7.95/lb
  • Filled with spinach, ricotta and Romano cheese
• Roasted Pepper $7.95/lb
  • Red pepper pasta with roasted red peppers, ricotta and Parmesan cheeses and bread crumbs
• Wild Mushroom $7.95/lb
  • Mushroom pasta stuffed with ricotta cheese, porcini and button mushrooms, Romano cheese, and breadcrumbs
• Pumpkin $7.95/lb
  • Filled with pumpkin, shallots, sherry wine, mascarpone cheese and Amaretti cookies
• Chicken $8.95/lb
  • Stuffed with chicken, prosciutto, shallots, mascarpone and ricotta cheese
• Jalapeno $8.95/lb
  • Jalapeno pasta filled with smoked chicken, black beans, jack and ricotta cheeses and jalapenos
• Shrimp $9.95/lb
  • Made with fresh shrimp, parsley, lemon juice, and ricotta cheese
• Lobster & Crab $12.95/lb
  • Made with fresh crab, lobster, codfish, ricotta cheese, mascarpone cheese and dill
• Seasonal Ravioli

See store for special raviolis featuring seasonal ingredients

Homemade Sauces

• Marinara $3.95/16oz
  • A meatless tomato sauce with, onions, carrots, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and parsley
• Chunky Marinara $3.95/16oz
  • The thicker, chunkier version of our Marinara
• Puttanesca $4.95/16oz
  • A zesty tomato sauce with anchovies, capers, Calamata olives, parsley, onions and garlic
• Amatricciana $6.95/16oz
  • With ground beef, pork, Prosciutto, pancetta, Italian sausage, parsley, onions and garlic
• Mushroom $6.95/16oz
  • A rich, meatless sauce with Shitake, Portobello and button mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, cream and red wine
• Red or White Clam $6.95/16oz
  • Chopped celery, onions, parsley, clams, white wine, garlic and spices (tomatoes in Red Clam)
• Vodka Cream Sauce $8.95/16oz
  • Shallots, garlic, tomatoes, cream, vodka and white pepper in a lobster base
• Alfredo $4.95/8oz $8.95/16oz
  • A creamy white sauce with, Parmesan cheese, white pepper, and extra virgin olive oil
• Bolognese $6.95/16oz
  • Made with ground beef and pork, onions, celery, carrots, garlic, white wine, tomatoes, cream and olive oil
• Seafood Newburg $8.95/16oz
  • Hearty sauce with shrimp, scallops, lobster, crab, garlic, shallots, butter, cream tomato paste

Frozen Pasta:

• Cheese Filled Tortellini $5.95/lb
• Meat Filled Tortellini $6.95/lb
• Cavatelli $3.95/lb
• Plain Potato Gnocchi $3.95/lb

Desserts

• Cannoli (Small and Large) $1.75 / $2.75
• Tiramisu $7.95
• Toasted Almond Crème Cake $7.95

Pizza oven picture from Flickr

Pasta also from Flickr

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