With restaurants trying to find new ways to increase business during the current recession, Donatella Arpaia of Mia Dona in New York is thinking outside the front door. She is rolling out a food cart onto the patio of her restaurant and offering street food for passers-by to purchase.
The red cart will be called Donatella’s Meatball Wagon and will offer Mamma Maria’s Meatballs. Her mother’s name is actually Maria and the meatballs are her mother’s long-handed-down family recipe.
The meatballs are slow braised in ragu, smothered in caciocavallo cheese, garnished with arugula and sandwiched between two squares of homemade potato-ricotta foccacia. This dish will cost $6, although you can also buy a take-away plate of 4 meatballs for $5. [NY Times]
Mia Dona is at 208 East 58th St, just east of 3rd Ave. If you try Mamma Maria’s Meatballs, let us know how they are in the comments below.
