THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 9, 1995 TAG: 9502070108
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Restaurant review
SOURCE: SAM MARTINETTE
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Chef Monroe Duncan has set tongues wagging in the food world once again, but this time it isn't because he has moved.
This time, the restaurant has moved under him, changing its name from Piranha, An Eating Frenzy to Monroe's, The Restaurant.
The change is more than in name only. It's a movement through time in a sense, in an attempt to recapture the summer of 1961 at the Nations Room in the Golden Triangle Hotel through the medium of Shrimp Savoy Seay; a visit to Suddenly Last Summer in the fall of 1979, by way of Hatteras Clam Chowder; a conjuring up of Monroe's Mocambo at the Oceanfront in 1987, by virtue of the Braised Tuna Fillet, Paul Bocuse.
Call it Monroe's Greatest Hits, the culmination of a career begun in the Beverly Hilton Hotel some four decades ago, where as a young busboy he cleared tables in a rooftop restaurant with patrons who included Tab Hunter, Troy Donahue and Elizabeth Taylor and then-hubby Nicky Hilton. Nearly every eatery Duncan has operated is represented on the menu of Monroe's, including the short-lived Lazy Lobster (1989).
But the menu change is more than just a trip down memory lane for Monroe Duncan.
``I felt as though my clientele perceived the restaurant as a bit too spicy because of its Caribbean theme, so I've culled the best of the best of all the restaurants I've worked in,'' Duncan said.
Gone are the electric colors of Piranha - although the fire-engine red walls of the lounge and the Latino-inspired mural remain colorful enough. Monroe's is warmer, with a more relaxed feeling. A fireplace has been added in the lounge, opposite a banquette situated under a row of windows overlooking the Little Creek at Pretty Lake. Grates on the windows also make it more open and airy.
Slowly the walls are filling with memorabilia from places past, such as a dinner menu from Suddenly Last Summer and stationery from the Lazy Lobster. A display case contains an ashtray, menus and a plate from Monroe's Mocambo. And a Neptune's Galley menu (remember Neptune with his trident at foot of Willoughby Spit?) has a dream meal from the past - chateaubriand for two at $9.95.
Perhaps more importantly, the menu contains offerings Monroe's customers have nominated by demand over the years, such as Tomato Angel Hair with Jumbo Lump Crabmeat (butter, tomato concassee, fresh basil and minced garlic - from Suddenly Last Summer, 1980 - $15.95), and Seafood Lasagna, Basil Cream Sauce (shrimp, scallops and crab meat, baked with ricotta and provolone cheeses and scented with fresh basil - Suddenly, 1980 - $16.95).
You'll find the Shrimp, Crawfish and Scallop Etouffee (hot and spicy with rice and scallions - $16.95) from Chappell's, 1989; Chargrilled Filet Mignon, Debris (with a smokey demi-glace Sauvignon sauce - $15.95) from Club Pink Flamingo, 1983; and Braised Tuna Fillet, Paul Bocuse from Monroe's Mocambo, 1987 (tuna fillet braised on onions with olive oil, tomatoes, herbs and white wine - $15.50).
Appetizers include Piranha's popular Fried Calamari on Lemon Pepper Fettuccini ($4.95), Bahamian Conch Fritters from the Lazy Lobster, 1989 (with key lime and tomato horseradish sauce - $5.95), and Shrimp Savoy Seay from the Nations Room in 1961 (large shrimp sauteed in butter with mushroom, garlic and sherry, dusted with Parmesan cheese - $8.95). There are table-side Caesars, and specials, such as Lobster Aromatique with a Pernon sauce.
Monroe's also serves a New Orleans-style Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. ($10.95), with New Orleans-style French toast, Eggs Benedict, a grits souffle, poached and smoked salmon, carving and omelette stations, and more. Lunch ended in January.
``We'll open for lunch in the spring,'' Duncan said.
As for the menu and name change, it seems to be working.
``I'm beginning to see people regularly that I saw only once at Piranha's,'' he said. ``Maybe Piranha was too avant-garde and on the edge for Tidewater.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Monroe Duncan sits inside his ``new'' and remodeled restaurant -
Piranha, An Eating Frenzy is now Monroe's, The Restaurant.
by CNB