Mona's Makeover
A Neighborhood Love Story
Windham, whose career had propelled him through the kitchens of Salish Lodge and Ovio Bistro, reined the menu back to its Mediterranean origins and turned his attention toward the integrity of its ingredients, from securing pristine sources for heirloom tomatoes to handcrafting his own cotechino sausage.
On one visit, that sausage arrived in three savory patties alongside a whole roasted branzino fish. The dish was a tabula rasa inviting diners to embellish at will with the accompanying plate of grilled peppers, onions, fennel, and lemon, fragrant with epazote leaf. More than tasty, this was intelligent too, rife with mix-and-match aromatics and textures. Similarly smart was Mona’s signature arugula salad, a stunner that’s been on the menu for years. Bitter arugula arrived drizzled with sweet truffled honey and arrayed with roasted red peppers, crunchy pistachios, and a ripe slab of Humboldt Fog chèvre. Exquisite.
Some dishes offered less conceptual artistry but were nevertheless tasty, like a pork loin saltimbocca with corn-encrusted patties of gnocchi romana, sweet red pepper sugo, and an overabundance of reggiano; or a duck confit salad, in which a darkly moist duck joint, crackly skinned and delectable, arrived over too bland a mélange of French lentils, feta, and greens.
Only one disappointment marred two delightful visits—overly tart dolmas promising Dungeness crab, then delivering none of its flavor. But they remained delightful visits. It’s the kind of place that will improvise a plate of truly careful macaroni and cheese for the kid at the table. The kind of place that may begin your meal with a gratis amuse-bouche, perhaps a whisper of creamy robiola cheese lavished with Yakima Valley peach confiture and a cloudburst of olive oil, if you haven’t yet stuffed yourself with spiced almonds and lamb pitas off the Happy Hour menu. It’s the kind of place where desserts are benedictions—a wedge of dense hazelnut cake presented with caramelized bananas and nut brittle; a dish of fresh Washington cherry clafouti crowned with housemade amaretto ice cream. All restaurants should be owned by pastry chefs.
And, it seems, bartenders. “Welcome to Mona’s, thanks for coming!” smiled the affable Quinn on our initial visit.
Yep. It’s Seattle all right.
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