Thursday, July 13, 2006

this was dona.

so saturday night i make reservations at dona for tal and i for a late night dinner. for those of you who dont know dona is the new restaurant that donatella, of davidburke & donatella, opened on 52nd street. i had heard random mentioning of the restaurant, but then read an article about how donatella spent her summers in toritto (the same small poor town in southern italy that my family is from). and since i am obsessed with southern italian cuisine, i decided that this is a must. there aren’t many southern italian specialty restaurants in the city, making this an even more important hit.

first impressions- wow this is a whole lot fancier than i thought it would be. business casual was an understatement. it was elite client professional. i was expecting white table clothes and fine service, but i wasn’t expecting gourmet out of southern italian cooking. hence, i was initially disappointed. please note this is not a restaurant for the cash flow challenged. the average price of a glass of red wine on their menu was $18. not that i mind paying $18 for something i could possibly consume in five minutes...

so tal and i settle in and we order the octopus with grilled peaches to start. mind you the service is practically amazing, other than the 10 minutes we waited for menus, as they change your settings every five minutes and are there for your every need. the octopus was good. tender, tasty, and presented well- all three pieces of it.
i ordered the risotto with prawns and tal ordered some pasta with a lamb and eggplant “bolognese” sauce. she raved about her’s and i was less than satisfied with my choice. don’t get me wrong it was tasty but it was overly tasty. i was overwhelmed by all the different flavors in such a simple dish.

however, dona rebounded at dessert. we tried the three gelatos sampler- choosing a deep chocolate with a strange name, rose raspberry, and white peace honey. by far the best part of our meal, in addition to the french bread. these combinations were perfectly concocted with the ultimate ingredients and perfect recipe of balance.

overall ratings:
ambiance- elderly classic
service- for the king and queen
food- gourmet lackluster
dessert- would make me return again.

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