The newest incarnation of the Townhouse Restaurant

Having worked in the restaurant/bar business for about 12 years now, it always fascinates me as to what makes a restaurant or bar "work" and what doesn't. Oh, I understand the basics: service, pours, pricing, quality of food, ambiance, location, management...but we've all seen places that seem to do everything right and they can't seem to get off the ground, and then there are places that seem to make every mistake in the book, and they do great. Well, the owners of a place called the Townhouse Restaurant closed their restaurant a couple years ago, presumably because they weren't making any money. Then they partnered with someone who came in and made it a nice casual Italian restaurant. They spent much time and money completely redoing the place into what was a very comfortable, fairly priced bistro with decent food. It completely flopped. In fact it did a heck of a lot LESS business than the Townhouse Restaurant that they closed in order to open the new place. So finally after many long and completely uneventful months, I guess they took their losses and got out.

In came Donatella Arpaia and chef Michael Psilakis, who completely redid the space (again) with an absolutely outstanding design, created a casual Italian menu and it has only been open only a couple of weeks under the name Mia Dona and it seem to be an immediate and smashing success. I've been their twice now and these people know how to do it right. The menu is unique and clearly designed by a master chef, the interior design is truly inspired, and the service is superb. The food quality has been wildly mixed. The Polpettone florentine meatloaf, made to order with a poached egg expertly cooked inside the loaf was a masterpiece, and so was the Spinach, béchamel & pecorino side dish. Creamy and interesting, it could have been a very satisfying meal in and of itself. The grilled octopus starter was very meaty and tender (yay!) but way too salty (boo!). The exact same can be said for the Roasted Pork Chop (meaty, tender and too salty). The pickled vinegar french fries were tasty but too bold and vinegary which overpowered whatever it was paired with, except perhaps the octopus and the pork chop. The Braised Beef Ribs with smoked mozzarella polenta, cipollini and tomato was very tasty. In spite of the issues I have with some of the flavors, the place is too interesting not to go back. It's a great study in how to do a successful restaurant in NYC.