For our latest Sunday night dinner with the family, we were looking up restaurants that offered Restaurant Week menus on Sundays and wound up at Mia Dona, an Italian restaurant in Midtown East that is owned by Donatella Arpaia. She is a famed restaurateur who has several restaurants in the city and has made appearances as a judge on Iron Chef America. She was actually at the restaurant that night, which was good to see, as it appears she’s taking an active interest in how things are running. The restaurant has gone through several changes in the last few months, including the exit of chef/partner Michael Psilakis (though they are still partners at Kefi and Anthos), so we weren’t really sure what to expect but the new menu definitely looked appealing.
We ended up ordering from the regular a la carte menu instead of the Restaurant Week menu, since all of the prices were very reasonable and we wanted to have more options. After making our selections, we turned our focus to the bread basket offerings.
Focaccia, breadsticks, Italian bread
I was actually disappointed with the bread selection, as I had read in several reviews about a delicious-sounding tomato-topped focaccia bread served with a head of roasted garlic. While there was focaccia bread in the basket, it was a plain one seasoned with a little bit of salt, and no roasted garlic in sight. Instead, we were served tiny bowls of ricotta cheese, which were cool and creamy but a bit lacking in flavor. It needed just a bit more oil and salt on top I think. Other breads in the basket included a standard rustic Italian bread, and an interesting pretzel-like breadstick that was nice and crunchy. Normally I’d be pretty pleased with a basket like this, but we all know how much I love tomato focaccia (aka pizza bread) so I kind of felt like I was missing out. I don’t know if they just don’t serve it anymore as a result of the recent changes to the chef/menu, or if they just happened to be out of it on this particular evening. I’m interested to find out though!
Ricotta for spreading
There were so many appetizers on the menu we wanted to try so almost everyone got something different. I went with the zuppa di cavolfiori con pesto, which was cauliflower soup topped with arugula pesto. The soup was thick and rich, and surprisingly silky smooth. Even though pureed soups are usually creamy, they still tend to have a bit of a granular texture on your tongue, but this one was so smooth that it almost had the mouth feel of a thick yogurt. I stirred the pesto into the soup, which gave it nice green swirls throughout. The taste of the cauliflower was very pronounced, and the pesto swirls added another layer of flavor.
Cauliflower soup with arugula pesto
Josh had the grilled octopus with a citrus fennel salad. I had originally shied away from this dish because I’m not the biggest fan of fennel (I hate licorice), but wow, this salad was bursting with flavor. The greens and shaved fennel were dressed with a zippy, citrusy vinaigrette, and complemented the tender pieces of octopus perfectly. There were also pieces of supremed oranges mixed throughout. It was just a fresh, vibrant combination, and I couldn’t stop stealing bites from Josh’s plate (though I did give him spoonfuls of soup in exchange).
Citrus fennel salad with grilled octopus
Josh’s dad, who is famous in the family for his amazing meatballs, couldn’t pass up the opportunity to test Mamma Maria’s meatballs braised in tomato sauce. He took one bite and admitted that he had strong competition, as Mamma’s meatballs really were quite fantastic. They were delicate and tender, and the tomato sauce had a nice tanginess to it. The meat was coarsely ground, nicely seasoned, and very flavorful.
Mamma Maria's tomato braised meatballs
Josh’s mom chose the fried mini-calzones with mozzarella, tomato, and basil. The little pockets of fried dough were light and crispy, and the inside was oozing salty mozzarella cheese. I think these mini-calzones were really just fun and tasty, and would make the perfect snack for munching on while watching TV.
Fried mini-calzones with mozzarella, tomato, and basil
Lastly, Jess and Lisa had the mixed green salad with artichoke, cured olive and parmesan cheese, tossed with a house vinaigrette. It was a pretty large portion and they both seemed to enjoy it immensely.
Mixed green salad with artichoke, cured olive, and parmigiano
After a bit of a service snafu, where they delivered the wrong order to our table, we had to wait a while to receive our main courses. Our bellies were partially satiated at this point but after having those delicious appetizers, we were really eager to try our entrees so it probably made the wait seem a lot longer. At long last they arrived, and we quickly dug in. Jess had the eggplant parmesan while Alice, Lisa, and I all ordered the cavatelli with slow cooked Sunday ragu, brasciole, and ricotta salata. The pasta had a pleasingly chewy texture to it, and the ragu was rich and flavorful. The ricotta salata grated on top added a nice saltiness to the dish, but I found the brasciole to be tough and stringy; that was the only disappointment to my whole meal.
Cavatelli with slow cooked Sunday ragu with brasciole and ricotta salata
Lloyd ordered the dish that I was debating between, a special pasta of the night that included duck confit and chicory. The dish was amazing, with fresh pappardelle pasta and tender, flavorful pieces of duck mixed throughout. I hope that it’s the special the next time we go to the restaurant, as I wanted a bowl all to myself.
Pappardelle with duck confit and chicory
Josh’s main course was equally delectable. He chose the ricotta gnocchi with caciocavallo cheese sauce, sausage, and bread crumbs. The gnocchi were light and tender, pretty much just melting in my mouth. I liked that the sausage was crumbled into tiny pieces, so that it mixed throughout the cheese sauce evenly rather than being big clumps of sausage that would overpower the delicate gnocchi. The sauce itself was mild tasting, and not too heavy or rich.
Ricotta gnocchi with caciocavallo cheese sauce and sausage
We were all too full for dessert, but we couldn’t pass up sharing an order of zeppole di nonna, which was fried dough with lemon cream. The zeppoles were freshly fried, rolled in cinnamon sugar, and just simply incredible.
Zeppoles with lemon cream
The outer crust was slightly crispy while the inside was light and fluffy. They were wonderful on their own but dipping them into the thick lemon cream just brought them up to a whole new level. Even when the zeppoles were gone, we were still scooping out the cream with our forks. We regretted not getting at least two orders, but we all knew that we would be back at some point, and probably soon.
Zeppole autopsy shot
We walked into Mia Dona that evening not knowing what to expect, and we left happy and completely satisfied. Since we were never there prior to the split and the menu changes, I can’t say if it’s now better or worse than before, but I can say that the meal we had was really amazing. The food was simple and straightforward but perfectly executed. The flavors of each dish really popped and left us wanting more. Service was fine, if a bit slow, especially on a slow Sunday night, but the food really was the star of the show. I would order any one of these dishes again, on top of all the dishes that we didn’t get to try but wanted to. As we walked out, we all wholeheartedly concurred that this restaurant warranted a repeat visit, and will probably become a permanent fixture in our Sunday night dinner rotation.
Mia Dona
206 East 58th St. between 2nd and 3rd Ave.
New York, NY
Tags: Italian, Midtown East