THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 22, 1994 TAG: 9412210046
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: A LA CARTE
SOURCE: DONNA REISS
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
COMING SOON TO 117 Tazewell St. in Norfolk: ``Dumbtraminer'' - a house wine for the Dumbwaiter restaurant.
``Off-dry white with delicate texture and fresh grapefruit flavors . . . chilled at 51 degrees'' is the description. A photograph and signature of Dumbwaiter chef-owner Sydney Meers complete the label design.
Barboursville Vineyards in Barboursville, Va., produces the vintage.
To welcome winter and harmonize with the house label white, a new menu introduces smoked tenderloin of beef with mashed sweet potatoes, grilled tuna on white bean ragout with a pecan-pepper cracker, and sauteed rockfish with southern pimento cheese pancakes.
Last week we dined on spry cilantro-scented Mexican meatball soup and medium-rare grilled tuna with garlic butter, black-eyed peas and fresh green beans, bistro-priced at $3.42 for the soup, $13.85 for the fish.
The local art, open kitchen, casual mood and eclectic cuisine were delightfully unique, as always. Call the Dumbwaiter at 623-FOOD. BACK TO THE BAY
Alexander's on the Bay, at Chick's Beach in Virginia Beach, is soothing and comfortably elegant.
Consider: candlelight dining, a large fireplace in the main dining room, a water view from every table and a menu of seafood and beef specialties epitomize fine dining.
Rebuilt after a fire in May 1993, Alexander's reopened a year later at the foot of Fentress Street. Owners Jane and Wayne Smith brought back chef Lynn Brewer, who was in charge of the kitchen since the restaurant opened in 1984. Brewer has pared down the menu for winter.
On a quiet mid-December Sunday night, we were impressed with a number of improvements to service and food since our spring visits.
Jumbo shrimp wrapped in bacon was cooked until crunchy, then brushed with tangy barbecue sauce. Crab soup was perfectly balanced with a hint of nutmeg and sherry, and served to taste.
Seafood Madagascar, a longtime signature dish of scallops, shrimp and tender lobster chunks, had a light cream sauce sparingly dotted with green peppercorns. It was pleasingly balanced and, at our waitress' recommendation, served over pasta instead of rice.
We finished the evening with an excellent Key lime pie. Call 464-4999. ALL YOU CAN EAT
If you want to sample Indian food, two restaurants in South Hampton Roads serve daily lunch buffets for under $7.
Nawab Indian Cuisine is at 888 North Military Highway in Norfolk, next to Military Circle Shopping Center. Call 455-8080. India Restaurant is at 5760 Northampton Blvd. in Virginia Beach. Call 460-1200.
Typical assortments include cucumber and chick-pea salads; chicken, beef and vegetarian dishes in mildly spiced sauces; fragrant basmati rice, tandoori chicken and naan bread.
Both restaurants keep the spices mild for American palates but will bring side bowls of incendiary vindaloo on request. A la carte menus are available, as are Indian tea, Indian and American beers, and fragrant Indian yogurt and fruit drinks. MONROE'S
The toothy fish logo is gone. Instead of a Day-Glo orange Piranha, a discreet black sign announces the restaurant at 8180 Shore Drive in Norfolk: Monroe's.
Flamboyant restaurateur Monroe Duncan - formerly of the Nations, Suddenly Last Summer, Simply Divine, Mocambo, the Lazy Lobster, the Pink Flamingo and Chappell's and host of a radio talk show about restaurants - has finally named a restaurant after himself.
As chef-owner, he supervises more than he cooks. But his staff, headed by Tim Crane, is preparing favorites from more than 20 years of Monroe's career.
Gone along with the carnivorous fish motif is the tropical-Latin emphasis. A new menu includes the luscious shrimp Savoy Seay, which Duncan learned at the Nations Room in the 1960s.
Head waiter Philip Johnson made for us an exemplary tableside Caesar salad; another waiter flambeed bananas foster to end the evening. Between, an assortment of fish, meats and chicken showed off classical, American regional and a few tropical preparations.
Etouffee is earthy and spicy; crawfish Chappell's is thick and rich; Hatteras clam chowder has outstanding wharf-side freshness.
Bright colors inside are somewhat subdued by ivory linens and white-shirted servers; a gas-log iron stove warms a corner of the more casual marina-side lounge. And a (Dare i call it garish?) back-wall mural of a devil, angel, serpent and Adam and Eve watches over all.
Call Monroe's at 588-0100 for lunch and dinner reservations. by CNB