Lavinia at Home

Restaurant Type: Italian, Mediterranean

Our Rating: 8.5

Food: 9 • Service: 8 • Décor: 8 • Atmosphere: 8 • Price: 9

We just discovered this new modern Italian/Greek/Mediterranean restaurant in our neighborhood – Mia Dona. It’s located at 206 E 58th St, (between 2nd & 3rd Ave). Telephone: 212-750-8170
The Chef Michael Psilakis, he is also the Chef-owner of Kefi at Upper West Side and Anthos, in Midtown.

I would recommend the figs and grilled octopus for appetizers, gnudi and skate for main course and cannoli for dessert.

This was really good meal, everything was delicious and we are definitely coming back. And price for food was very good.

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Restaurant Type: Italian

Our Rating: 8.2

Food: 9 • Service: 8 • Décor: 8 • Atmosphere: 8 • Price: 8

72 Main Street, Madison, New Jersey. Tel.: 973-301-0024
Il Mondo Vecchio is a refreshing treat for Italian food lovers in the suburbs of New Jersey. This family-friendly—namely baby-friendly—restaurant offers delicious meals with excellent service and an attentive hostess for all-around enjoyable dining experience. While it’s not inexpensive, your taste buds will excuse the hit to your wallet. Given the quality of the food, it’s no wonder that reservations are recommended.
We shared a combination of appetizers from the classical buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes to seared scallops to ravioli with truffles. Every bite was bursting with rich flavor. For dinner, we dined on pasta, veal, fish and chicken. My favorite was their Costoletta con Carciofi e Tartufi, a boneless veal chop stuffed with Fontina cheese, prosciutto and truffles in a Marsala wine sauce with artichoke hearts. It was superb. Portions are generous and great to share if you like sampling multiple options. Their bring-your-own-bottle (BOYB) policy is also a welcome offering, offsetting some of the evening’s expense. In fact if you forgot to bring one, you can easily buy a bottle at one of the two wine stores within walking distance.

This restaurant rates a repeat visit in our opinion. Give it a try; you will most likely enjoy it too.

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Restaurant Type: Italian restaurant
Our Rating: 8.0
Food: 8 • Service: 9 • Décor: 7 • Atmosphere: 8 • Price: 8

Very popular by locals, Andiamo is a casual Italian bistro in northeastern Bergen County, located at 23 Hardenburgh Avenue, Haworth, NJ, Tel.: 201.384.1551. We recommend that you make a reservation or get there early. We arrived on Sunday around 6:00 PM and the place was packed.
Andiamo Restaurant was established in 1990, offering a predominately Italian menu – although the executive chef has been known to blend flavors influenced by Italian, Asian and American cuisines. It’s a nice place for couples or groups, offering good food at reasonable prices. At Andiamo, we had a quiet booth and plenty of space for our baby seat (they do not allow baby strollers in the restaurant).
Portions are generous. In fact, we were full after eating their homemade bread and appetizers (Eggplant Rollatini – eggplant rolled with ricotta and mozzarella cheeses with Marinara sauce and Fried Calamari with Fra Diavolo sauce). For main courses, we had delicious Shrimp Francese over Angel Hair Pasta and Shrimp Oregano with tomatoes and spinach over basmati rice.
Everyone on the staff was very accommodating, friendly and helpful.
For customer convenience, Andiamo has two separate dining rooms. The front dining area is ideal for small private affairs. This room accommodates 15-35 people. The back dining area, or “banquet room”, is located in the rear of the restaurant. This room provides seating for 35-100 guests and opens to our outdoor deck area.

Looking for Northern Italian cuisine? I would recommend Paper Moon Milano, located in Midtown Manhattan at 39 East 58th Street, between Madison & Park Avenues (Tel.: 212-758-8600). Meal pricing is not cheap, but it’s on par with the neighborhood. Apparently reminiscent of the owner’s origins, the restaurant’s decor boasts vintage pictures of old Milan, which adds to the well-decorated room with white-clothed tables, flowers and soft music. It’s very crowded for lunch and offers a more intimate setting for dinner or drinks in the evening. While finding a restaurant with availability on Friday night is sometimes hard, my husband and I were happy to be able to walk in and get a table without receiving an “attitude” from the hostess. They served us delicious appetizers – Salmon tartar with avocado, cucumber and gazpacho sauce and the house specialty salad consisting of Arugola, hearts of palm and tomatoes with thinly sliced Parmesan cheese; for dinner, we had a Veal scaloppina piccata, Marsala wine & mushrooms and homemade pasta. The service were excellent; we were treated with care and attention and the food was good. We plan to return in the future. We gave Paper Moon Milano 3+ stars in our ranking book. If you prefer casual dining, you can checkout Paper Moon Express, which is located just around the street at 54 East 59th Street.