Italian has always been one of my "Top 3" cuisines (French, Italian, and Thai), and I've loved it ever since I was a very little kid. I was frequently pestering my parents to make me "pasta with red sauce" for dinner, and it still is one of my favorite foods. But now that I've grown older and wiser, I've started to branch out from that basic, tomato-y luxury and begun to eat all kinds of Italian specialties. We have lots of yummy pizzerias and Italian bistros here in New Orleans, and I've eaten at, think, most of them. So as I was strolling through the French Quarter around twelve-thirty today, hungry and tired, I stumbled upon a little spot called Mona Lisa. It was Italian, I thought, so how bad could this be?
I went inside and was led to a clean table by a member of the staff. The tablecloth had a nice rustic red and white checked pattern that added nice charm. The walls were literally covered with pictures of the Mona Lisa (all of them added a comical twist). A nice, quiet waitress came over and gave me a glass of ice water, and I placed my order. I had a good time looking at all the funny Mona Lisas while I waited for my food. One of them had a leopard head, and another had a pig snout nose. Then my food came, and I immediately dove right in. I got the "pasta authentico," a very fresh and tasty meal. It was simply tomatoes, olives, spinach and roasted garlic sautéed in olive oil and served over penne pasta. It was garnished with nicely crunchy bread crumbs. I ate with relish. It was very refreshing, just not spectacular.
For dessert, I had a slice of lemoncello cake, a delicious layered dessert of lemon sponge cake and some kind of lemony pudding in between. There was a nice thin layer of lemon icing, and white chocolate curls on top. I felt it was the perfect way to end the meal. It wasn't very pricey, and it was the perfect place to go for my lunch.
So Mona Lisa is a fine place for dinner or lunch, and I think you'll be happy once you eat up your meal. Stay tuned. Au revoir.
