Bella 'Dona': Plates steal the spotlight, from wall to table
But hold the phone: Donatella Arpaia and Michael Psilakis, the crack duo behind James Beard–nominated Greek restaurant Anthos and now-shuttered Italian eatery Dona, feel your pain about the UES, and have opened Mia Dona (Dona’s chiller, cheaper sibling) with you in mind.
Perhaps it’s the spot's railroad-apartment-style setup that made three Brooklyners feel instantly comfortable. At some point, each of us has had to live like this, so we swanned from room to room—from the smartly modern bar to the “den” to the “library” (quoth the press release)—entirely at ease. (The trendy, Escher-esque Fornasetti plates dotting the walls here adorned the tables of the old Dona.)
Our first starter, spiedini (Italian for skewered flesh), had our attention off the walls and onto our plates: Five beasts came on a slim china platter for the bargain price of $13. One quail wing joined a hunk of merguez, veal sweetbreads, pork involtini and a sphere of lamb polpetti (a meatball). The dish is pedigreed: The merguez is procured from local purveyor Salumeria Biellese; the quail is organic, and fresh from D’Artagnan; the pork is that buzzed-about Berkshire variety.
The merguez had my English friend nostalgic for blood sausage—it had that same toothsome quality, and an addictive spiciness. Quail wore a sweet-tart splash of caramelized balsamic vinegar, and the involtini was a satisfyingly savory combo of thin-pounded, tender pork tenderloin wrapped around speck, sage, prosciutto and bufala mozzarella.
Our lone pescatarian was quite pleased with her octopus starter; the purple tentacle was literally fork-tender and aromatic after a long bath in white wine with fennel and garlic. Dished up alongside a few tender potatoes, green olives and a lush goat’s-milk feta, it put standard renditions of octopus to shame.
We picked a medley of fish and meat entreés, and put our waiter—a slight, Tintin-like fellow—on the spot by asking him to pick a light red vino to match. He did not disappoint: The delicately fruity Pavilion Pinor Noir, which he admitted sotto voce he’d been “drinking too much of lately, myself,” went beautifully with butternut squash tortelli punctuated with dried tart Michigan cherries that had been plumped up in a decadent brown-butter bath.
It turned out to be the best of the mains. Though a pork chop with a fried egg on top, alongside frisee sprinkled with gorgonzola and bacon, was a clever twist on frisee aux lardons, it lacked the zing of a perfectly composed dish. A sizable portion of red snapper with merguez-flecked couscous and a medley of shellfish—giant prawn here, couple of mussels there—impressed us more, featuring a buttery, generously sized piece of fish.
Salad-haters should keep an eye peeled for a side of spinach, béchamel and pecorino, as it is absolutely doused in a cinnamon-and-star-anise-spiked béchamel sauce and sprinkled with cheese. “This is like dessert,” declared my friend, slurping up her fill. Indeed it was, and tastier than the one dulce item we tried. A dull gianduja semifreddo mousse made down the street at Anthos (as are all the desserts) could not be saved by a dose of crunchy hazelnut brittle, and tasted as though it had been frozen twice (it was).
If you have that expense account and don’t know how to best abuse it, your gal Donatella is there to help. The wine list is peppered with advice from the fair co-owner: “Wines to drink when I don’t have to pay the check”—a $400 bottle—sidles up alongside “Wines I drink when I don’t have to get up the next day.”
Oh, Donatella. But it is your house, after all.
Mia Dona
206 E. 58th St. at Third Ave.
212-750-8170
Open for dinner daily, lunch on
weekdays and Sunday brunch
Appetizers: $8-$24
Entrees: $17-$24
Photo by Mea Tefka
