Alva

36 E. 22nd St. (between Broadway & Park Avenue South)

(212) 228-4399

Alva was Thomas Edison’s middle name. So lightbulbs naturally figure into the decor of Alva, the casual-yet-classy American bistro owned by chef Charlie Palmer of Aureole and Metrazur.

This cozy Flatiron eatery has also come up with a great way to switch on the workweek. It’s called Monday Night @ the Movies . Stop in for dinner Monday and leave with free movie tickets, which can be used at Loews, Cineplex Odeon or Sony theaters.

You’ll have to spend $35 per person to get a ticket, and what fun that is with the bright fare served in this amiable room rimmed with leather banquettes and high, tilted mirrors. As the place is less busy on Mondays, the seating is more spacious and relaxed.

The woody bar up front is a smoky hangout that recalls the ’20s. They know how to mix a proper cocktail, and that’s a great way to start. (Tomorrow they’re pouring pints of Brooklyn Brown Ale for $4 – a one-night special.)

The modest menu hits all the comfort buttons, with entrees of hanger steak, osso bucco, caramelized duck breast and Cornish hen with polenta. We started with a satisfyingly crunchy shrimp spring-roll appetizer featuring two fat cigars stuffed with vegetables and seafood with a creamy mustard dipping sauce ($9).

Crisply coated parsley-crusted salmon paired the thick and rosy filet with gutsy ribbons of fennel and a meaty mushroom sauce ($20). Poached monkfish stew ($22) was a light and flavorful white wine broth buoying hunks of the white fish, as well as mussels, shrimp and flower-shaped carrot slices.

Use your tickets right away or save them for another time. What makes the offer even more fitting is that Edison and his West Orange, N.J., crew also invented the movie camera and projector.