51. Villa Mozart
Before I talk about food, I need to speak directly to Northern Virginia. Not the people of Northern Virginia, but the geographic area itself. NoVa, why do you hate me? Why do you make it so hard for me to get anywhere? I bought a GPS and told myself it was in case I wanted to make a road trip, but let’s not kid ourselves, it’s because I can’t find anything if I have to take a bridge to get there. So when I made the trek out to Fairfax the other day, I left myself plenty of time—OR SO I THOUGHT. An hour later, I finally found the restaurant. I’m not going to say I was lost per se, but I’m blaming the GPS for taking me a weird route. Not that I would know a weird route versus a great route in Virginia if it punched me in the face. But I digress…
The little commercial strip that houses little Villa Mozart is the definition of quaint. In other words, the restaurant’s got a front porch. Sadly there were tables for eating on said porch. Inside, the restaurant was a little bit like a basement. There were windows but the blinds were drawn and the place was incredibly dark for a sunny day. It was too bad too, with grey walls and dark furniture, the restaurant seemed a bit dank and dingy, which I’m sure it is not. What it is is small. I only saw twelve or so tables in the main room, and about six in another room. Lucky for me the restaurant was not exactly full, just a couple tables of business-y looking men and a table of ladies who lunch. And little old me.
I was excited to try the three-course $18 meal since a deal is a deal no matter how far, but the menu for today was lamb chops which didn’t really strike my fancy. If you decide not to go with the set meal, the rest of the menu is just pastas and salads. I tried the gnocchi puttanesca because just like me, it’s salty and zesty. The gnocchi was buttery and light, and the puttanesca was great. It is a rare occasion when I actually eat an entire plate of pasta at one sitting, especially at lunch, but I knew I’d be mad at myself if I didn’t finish and then had to snack on crappy vending machine food in three hours. So I ate to the point of nausea (from too much food, not gross food) so I wouldn’t be mad later. Take that, self.
The big question is: was it worth my oddessy to Fairfax? Probably not. But if you are in the area and jonesin’ for some pasta, I’d say definitely stop in.
