Scott Tacinelli and Angie Rito, the husband-and-wife creators of Quality Italian’s signature chicken-parm pizza, are also the masterminds behind this restrainedly elegant Italian-American spot in Greenwich Village. Their objective is to update, through color and unlikely flavors, the Italian-American mainstays they grew up eating–so much so that, according to Tacinelli, “if my grandmother ate [my dishes], she probably wouldn’t understand.” Highlights from Don Angie’s dinner-only menu include chrysanthemum salad with garlic, sesame, and parmesan (a take on the classic Caesar), cinnamon-roll-shaped lasagna for two, and two-tone buffalo-milk caramelle with brown butter and melon. The cocktail menu, though short, is equally tempting and sticks with the elevated-Italian-American theme. A must-sip is the house margarita, sweetened with Calabrian-chili honey and spiked with fennel liqueur.
Don Angie
Images Ashley Sears
