Mona Lisa, Hendersonville

Mona Lisa on N. Church and 8th Avenue in Hendersonville, is a fairly recent addition to the Italian restaurant scene, opening last summer. Fat Kat and I have been there twice now and have conflicted views on it. It had potential to be the kind of restaurant we love - great food at reasonable prices with a casual, yet classy atmosphere. It delivered in some aspects and fell short on others. The food is excellent, but there are several aesthetic and logistical drawbacks. While we wouldn't hesitate to go back, we would recommend it with some reservations. So, I guess we'll tell our story and you can decide!

Our first visit to Mona Lisa was last December, a few months after it opened. Long enough for them to have worked out any opening bugs. We got there on a busy Friday night and had a wait. We had no problem waiting as that is a common occurrence on a Friday night. However, we immediately discovered one Mona Lisa's major drawbacks. There is nowhere to wait that isn't in everyone's way. There is a small bar, but it only has four chairs, which were quickly filled. There is a very small space for people to stand, but it's right in front of the door AND, worse yet, right in the alleyway for the servers to get to and from the kitchen and prep area. Since it was cold out, no one wanted to wait outside. There are also a couple of tables right next to the door (I wouldn't recommend sitting there during a cold night) and it's a bit uncomfortable to stand there hovering over your fellow diners' shoulders. In addition to all of this chaos, there were people coming and going who had ordered pizzas to go, who had to elbow their way in to pick up and pay for their pizzas. Thankfully, our wait turned out to be less than anticipated. Maybe 20 minutes.

Mona Lisa is in a long, rectangular building and has two dining areas. We were led to the back room and seated at a small table for two in the middle of the room. It felt a bit odd sitting there smack dab in the center of everything. Every other table was up against the wall. All that was missing for our table was a spotlight overhead and a slowly revolving disco ball.

Ok, enough about non-food items. Fat Kat tried his best to order a beer. He made a choice, server comes back, "sorry we are out of that". He makes a second choice, server comes back, "sorry, we are out of that too". What? It's Friday night. People drink beer on Friday night. A lot of beer. Sooo, she recommends a third choice. Fat Kat somewhat sarcastically asks if she's SURE they have that one. She laughed and said, "yes". Turns out it was a good beer and turned out it was on the house, so an even better beer. I ordered my glass of wine which I managed to get on the first try. One note on the wine, the last time we were there, my wine came and it was extremely warm, probably more than 70 degrees. That is much too warm to be serving red wine. I noticed that the wines they use for the red "by the glass" selections were stored on top of their chiller, with hot lights and motors running underneath them. That doesn't seem like a very smart place to keep them. I will, however, say that they give a very generous, albeit warm, pour.

Bread was delivered quickly, but here is one of my gripes. They use unsalted butter on their garlic bread. PLEASE use salted butter (or add some flakes of sea salt to the unsalted). Unsalted butter, while it may be the choice of some, is not mine (and I'm a baker). Without salt, it leaves everything tasting flat. A sprinkle of salt from the shaker and the bread came back to life. Also, this brings me to another aesthetic gripe. They serve the bread in one of those red plastic baskets. I mean, let loose of a dollar and spring for some wicker or metal or ANY non-plastic bread basket. And while we're at it, please replace your plastic water glasses with the "Pepsi" logo on the side for something nicer. It just all screams tacky. I'm not sure if they're caught between trying to decide if they're a classy little bistro/cafe or a gussied up pizza shop. The decor inside is, overall, pretty nice with warm tones on the walls and cute little tables and chairs (looks nicer after dark). Why the plastic-ware?

Back to the food...One of the things we love about Mona Lisa is that it's not just a spaghetti and meatballs kind of place. They have interesting and varied dishes from multiple regions. In fact, they list the region of origin next to each dish. On both visits, Fat Kat ordered Maccheroni alla Chitarra ($14) which is similar to spaghetti and meatballs, but so much better! He loved it the first time, which is why he ordered it again (he is sometimes a creature of habit). The first visit, I ordered Farfalloni al Pesto ($15), which is bowtie pasta with a Genovese style pesto (creamier than traditional pesto). The second visit, I ordered Scallope Divitello alla Romana ($17), which is veal scallops with prosciutto, rosmarino, cheese, spinach, and served with a side of pasta. All dishes were excellent with the minor gripe that on the veal dish, the spinach was not fresh. I mean, come on, it takes exactly 15 seconds to wilt fresh spinach. Each entree comes with a starter garden salad which was very nice. On each visit, after the bread and salad, we had enough to take half our meals home; but a heartier appetite could easily finish it in one sitting.

Their menu is quite large. There are a variety of meat, chicken, and seafood entrees. Some come with a side of pasta and all come with bread and the garden salad. Prices range from $15 - $23 (for some beef and lamb dishes). There are several pasta main dishes, including one risotto, ranging in price from $14 - $16. In addition to the entrees, they offer pizzas, calzones, and stombolis. Some come with traditional toppings/fillings, some with more gourmet toppings. I have not had their pizza, calzones, or strombolis, but the reports are that they are very good. Pizzas come in 12" ($8 - $13) and 16" ($12 - $20, for stuffed). Not all varieties come in both sizes. The do offer pizza by the slice ($2.50) if you just want a taste or a light lunch. The calzones and strombolis are priced from $6.50 - $10.50. They offer an additional lunch menu with soups, salads, breads and a few entree-like items.

Service both times was good at dinner. Fat Kat has reported though that at lunchtime, it can be a bit dicey to get back to work on time. One of his co-workers had to get his meal to go because it took so long.

The reason for 3.5 forks is because although the food and prices are excellent, there are a lot of smaller issues that could be improved. The waiting area may have only been a problem when it was very busy, but still, having people wait right in the way of the servers trying to get food on the table just doesn't seem very smart. A few nicer touches in the decor and ambiance would go a long way to earn some more forks. But, if you want some excellent and different Italian dishes at reasonable prices, I would recommend that you try Mona Lisa. Just remember to bring your salt shaker for the bread and an ice cube or two for the wine...

785 N. Church St. (corner of Church and 8th Ave)
Hendersonville, NC
828-696-7858
I would've printed the hours, but they aren't on the menu!
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La Riserva, Hendersonville, NC

I was beginning to think I would be retired before the much anticipated (at least in our household) La Riserva (www.lariservaristorante.com) was unveiled. Fat Kat and I had always loved Sparacino's, where chef David Sparacino produced amazing Italian food. Before a few other restaurants came to town, and before the original Sparacino's closed, it was our favorite restaurant. So, when we heard he was opening a new restaurant, La Riserva, in a more visible location right on Main St, Fat Kat and I couldn't wait to try it. Unfortunately, as with many new projects, there were construction delays and other road blocks that pushed back their opening. It was over two years ago that I started the vigil. Finally, a few weeks ago, La Riserva opened and wow was it worth the wait!

As of when Fat Kat and I went (10/19), La Riserva was only open for dinner. They also plan to open for lunch at some point down the road. We decided to make reservations and although it seemed there were minimal time choices left when I called, it wasn't mobbed when we got there. I can only assume they leave several tables open for walk-ins. By the time we left, nearly every table was filled. The restaurant is quite sizable (much bigger than Sparacino's) with both an upstairs and downstairs. It is a warm and comfortable environment that is clearly upscale, yet very inviting. I didn't spend much time upstairs (just went up for a peek) but there is a nice bar area upstairs and a lot more tables. The second floor is loft-like surrounding the opening down to the Irongate shopping area. The tables along the front wall upstairs are by windows overlooking Main Street, which is nice for people watching. When you first walk in, there is a beautiful tiled/stone area with a large inset image of a wine glass filled with red wine - naturally apro pos for a wine bar/restaurant and is their logo.

We were seated right away at a table for two. That was one of the only drawbacks we encountered. The small table barely had enough room for what was already on it, let alone extra plates. When we perused the appetizers, we chose the four plate tasting ($15). It came out on four large rectangular plates, which we clearly had no room for! But, without asking, they quickly pulled over a neighboring table and, voila!, plenty of room for everything. We thought it was great that we didn't even have to ask them to do that. They saw a problem and fixed it immediately. There were several enticing appetizers, but as mentioned, we went for the suite of four tastings. We chose the cheeses, Italian meats, cured meats, and olives. They were beautifully presented (albeit space consuming!) and delicious.

Choosing an entree was a bit more difficult. We know whatever comes out of Chef David's kitchen is going to be amazing. Do we go with a regular menu item (theoretically still there next time)? Or do we choose a nightly special (a one time deal)? I'm a sucker for pasta. Truly, I could eat it every night. But, I wanted to be a bit more adventurous this time. I finally decided on the Red Snapper special. It came with an apple cider sauce, some vegetables, and a parmesan risotto. Fat Kat opted for gnocchi, one of his Italian favorites. This gnocchi is a little different in that it comes with a classic bolognese sauce instead of a white sauce. When our dishes came out and we had that first bite, both of us were making all sorts of yummy noises bordering on inappropriate! My snapper was fabulous. And it wasn't just the fish - it was the whole thing - a heavenly mixture of flavors and textures. The risotto was incredible - creamy and flavorful. The gnocchi came out in a huge white bowl - seriously, you could have flipped it over and worn it as a sombrero. He's still talking about the gnocchi! He ate half and saved half to take home. I did the same.

Since we saved part of our meal, we had room for dessert (Sweet Tooth has to have her dessert!). There were about four or five choices. We got a half of pumpkin cheesecake and the chocolate cake with espresso mousse filling. Both sounded delicious. The pumpkin cheesecake was excellent. We really could have split it, but in the interest of research (eh-hem) we had to get two desserts. :) Unfortunately, the cake fell short. One of my pet peeves of desserts is a dry cake and this one was. I like a rich, moist cake and am rarely satisfied. The flavor was really good, but it literally crumbled when I cut into it. I swear I ought to buy cakes by weight - if it's heavy, it's mine! When the server asked about the desserts, I was honest. I said while the pumpkin cheesecake was great, the cake was not. I wasn't looking for any credit on our bill or substitute dessert, I just thought he would want to know. If it was my restaurant, I would want to know. They can't possibly keep trying everything on their menu, so if they don't get feedback, they'll never know if they need to make changes. To be fair, I suspect the cake was excellent when it was first made. It may have been a couple of days old and perhaps was uncovered in the cooler. To their credit, about three minutes after I made the comment about the cake, out popped a trio of gelatos, on the house, from the chef as an apology for the dry cake! We were REALLY full, but were not going to turn down an opportunity for a gelato tasting! The three flavors were pistachio, apple spice, and butter pecan. They were all good and very creamy, with the butter pecan being my favorite (and that's saying something because I don't like nuts!).

So, overall, La Riserva was an overwhelming hit and most definitely worth the wait for it to open! You might think I would knock off a half-fork for the dry cake, but because they went out of their way (without asking) to make sure we were happy, I gave them a full five forks. Service was attentive, but not intrusive and the food came out within a reasonable time frame. The prices are on par with other restaurants of that caliber. And the food was downright amazing. Of course, we didn't expect anything less from David, and we were not disappointed! Their menus are posted on the website as well as other information about the restaurant.
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West First Wood-Fired Pizza

West First is located in Hendersonville on, guess?, W. 1st. I always like when a restaurant uses its address as the name. One less thing I have to remember! Fat Kat and I had tried to go there another night - around 7:30 on a Friday, but it was mobbed and we were starving, so we left, opting for lesser food that could be consumed immediately. But, we vowed to come back. Finally, made it back with some friends last Saturday. It was definitely worth the wait! Fridays must be the busiest, because we got there about the same time as our first attempt, but this time, got right in. West First is run by the same folks who do Flat Rock Bakery - also a stellar establishment. It is great to now see them downtown as well.

West First is a lively, modern atmosphere with an industrial feel, but warm at the same time. Their big, beautiful, wood-fired oven is the focal point at the back of the restaurant. They specialize in unique thin crust pizza, but have other choices, like pastas and salads. Their wine and beer list is interesting and reasonably priced. Since this was our first visit, we HAD to try the pizzas. Fat Kat and I decided to split a pizza, so I ordered a side salad for a starter. The salad was excellent with fresh mixed greens and a delicious dressing. I thought was generously sized for a side salad too. Fat Kat had a few bites, but was more interested in the pizza. We ordered the proscuitto pizza and our dinner companions ordered the goat cheese pizza. West First has about eight choices of pizza and they all sounded interesting and delicious. Unfortunately, I was so fixated on the pizzas, that I don't remember what they had for pasta entrees. I could eat pasta every day of my life, so I should've taken note. But, if they're anything like the pizzas, they will be worth a try on another night.

Either our pizzas came out really quickly or we were talking so much that I didn't notice how much time had passed. Whichever it was, the pizzas showed up while I still had a few bites of my salad left. Now, I will back up a little and say that, typically, I prefer a thick crust pizza over a thin crust. If I wanted a cracker, I'd eat a cracker. BUT, this thin crust was AMAZING. It was truly thin, but still a bit chewy - fantastic! It has changed my mind about thin-crust. The pies were about 12". It is plenty for two if you get something to go with it or a healthy meal for one. Our prosciutto one was excellent. We must've said how great it was about ten times, intermingled with a lot of "yummy noises". Our dinner companions have been there several times and tried about four of the pizzas. They said you just can't miss - they're all good.

Since I had to make sure I was being thorough for the review, I had to order dessert (big grin!). They had about five choices, but several had nuts, so I immediately purged those from my list of options, and unfortunately, my memory. I went with the flourless chocolate torte, while our dinner companions opted for the hazelnut tiramisu. I love tiramisu and would've gone for that if not for those pesky nuts. Like the pizza, the desserts came out quickly and were fabulous. My torte was not huge by Sweet Tooth standards, but it is rich and came swimming in a sea of delicious chocolate sauce, so was more than enough. It's hard to go wrong with a flourless torte and this one did not disappoint. It was excellent with a rich, chocolate flavor. And gone in a flash. The tiramisu was a more generous portion and looked great. If they have another version of it next time we go, I'll have to give it a try.

One funny side note - if you go into the restrooms (which were very clean, by the way), be forewarned about the air hand driers. They have the force of a jet engine and will blow you across the room if you don't have your feet firmly planted. But, your hands will be dry in about 1.3 seconds! You don't normally share stories from a visit to the restroom, but we all laughed about that.

Fat Kat and I will definitely be back to West First. We had Carb Boy and Zippy Spice drooling with the description of the fabulous food, so we are anxious for them to try it with us. It seems popular enough that it will hang around. I hope so. It draws a slightly younger crowd and the place fills with energy, so not really your romantic getaway, but hey, we're there for the pizza! And remember, this is more of what you'd call "gourmet" pizza. If you want your basic pepperoni pizza dripping with grease, this is not the place for you. If you want a fantastic and unique pizza in a great environment, then jump in your car and get to West First!

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