A visit to grandmother-inspired restaurant

Join Sara Hebert and Chris Jay as they go on dates and share their local restaurant choices and activities.

Sara and I love food. We love eating it, cooking it and watching others cook it on television. Like millions of other food-lovers, we’re fans of the Food Network program “Chopped,” a reality-based cooking show that pits four chefs against one another in a cook-off with a $10,000 prize.

When Monroe-based Chef Cory Bahr won “Chopped” in 2012, Sara and I headed to Monroe to eat at Bahr’s fabulous Restaurant Cotton, a unique restaurant that serves locally sourced, traditional Louisiana cuisine in a historic riverfront property.

On March 14, Bahr opened his second restaurant in Monroe, a sprawling neighborhood eatery called Nonna. Located in Monroe’s Garden District in a converted home, Nonna serves oldschool Italian cuisine infused with a new-school appreciation for eating local.

The restaurant’s aesthetic is bold and creative. Portraits of local grandmothers (“Nonna” is Italian for “grandmother”) hang on the walls, and a giant courtyard invites guests to linger. Perhaps the most unexpected element of the restaurant’s design is the bocce ball court, where patrons can grab a cocktail from the outdoor bar and enjoy the Italian game before or after dinner.

At first glance, the menu at Nonna seems entirely dedicated to celebrating traditional Italian favorites like lasagna, pasta Bolognese and risotto. But, as others have pointed out, a closer look reveals the restaurant is really a hybrid of Louisiana flavors and Italian technique. The fried oyster carbonara, for example, with spaghetti, smoked bacon and fried Louisiana oysters, will delight oyster-lovers. On the appetizer menu, the ham hock arancini combines a 1,000-year-old Sicilian recipe for fried rice balls with Louisiana’s love of smoked pork, resulting in what tastes like a high-class boudin ball. The appetizer menu honestly is where many of the restaurant’s most exciting ideas reside. Try the faux gras, a playful dish, which presents seared mortadella (Italian-style bologna) in the style of foie gras.

Prices at Nonna are reasonable with appetizers in the $5-$10 range and entrees ranging from $12-$25. It’s definitely worth making the drive to Monroe to experience the latest triumph from “Chopped” winner Bahr and his team.

– Chris Jay

Louisiana is the perfect state to live in if you love road trips. Chris and I often try to visit nearby towns that we can drive to for the day, grab delicious food, see the sights and pretend for a moment that we’ve had a “real” vacation. One of our favorite day trip locales is Monroe, partially because one of our oldest and dearest pals, Bill Dunn, calls the welcoming city home. Our past trips have usually involved checking out the local music scene and taking in Bill’s rock band, The Vidrines. This time, Bill surprised us by joining in on a local production of Michael Frayn’s “Noises Off.” It was an unexpected delight due to the caliber of local talent and the hospitality of the Strauss Theatre Center. “Noises Off” is a hilarious romp through the front-of-house and behindthe-scenes of what it takes to put on a theatrical production. It’s a riotous examination of the relationships, drama and mania that unfold as a cast puts on a “play within a play” called “Nothing On,” which the characters have been rehearsing to take on tour. The audience experiences a dress rehearsal as it might really happen with Lloyd Dallas, the play’s director, interrupting actors to remind them to “take the sardines!” or clarify motivation. The second act actually rotates the entire set around, so we can see the hysterical backstage relationships between the cast that lead to offstage shenanigans and onstage bedlam. Honestly, I have no idea how the Monroe cast of “Noises Off” pulled off the acrobatics and erratic acting required in the Second Act. It was truly impressive and an absolute surprise. If you’re traveling to Monroe, I suggest scoping out what’s going on at the Strauss on their website, strausstheatrecenter.com. Monroe is a fantastic trip on a Saturday. Chris and I also recommend a pint at cozy Enoch’s Pub (enochsirishpub.com) or visiting some of the galleries that participate in the Downtown Gallery Crawl – Sara Hebert (downtowngallerycrawl.com).