I first met Mimmo when he gave me a tour of the new kitchen they were installing at the old Ceasers Den.
Mimmo is missed

My favorite is Chiapparelli's.

I miss mimmo..it hasn't been the same, and never will. mimmo was the class of Little Italy!

45 bucks for a veal chop?

wow, I guess it will be awhile before I ever dine there.

No offense to the memory of Mimmo, I'm sure he was a fine individual, but their prices have always been outrageous. I think there's enough choices in Little Italy without paying astromnomical prices for a great meal.

I really cannot even pretend to be an authentic "foodie" ( I know we have had that discussion before, defining foodie). However, I cannot for the life of me imagine spending that much for a meal. I am all for a nice dinner out every now and then, and I am sure their food is good. But seriously? And forgive my ignorance, but can someone explain to me the justification for the $10 sharing charge. For what? The cost of bringing out an extra plate? Errr...

We're going to Da Mimmo for Restaurant Week -- only way it will be in my price range.

Trixie brings up a point worth pondering--what is it with the sharing charges you sometimes see on menus? My husband and I planned to split some appetizers the last time we went to the Oregon Grille, but he noticed that sharing charge, so we just passed the plates back and forth. Why not?

Forgive my ignorance, but I've never known. Is the "sharing charge" for bringing you out an extra plate or is it if you are "caught" sharing your food? The latter is honestly what I always thought (but until last year I thought I could go to jail for ripping the tag off my mattress)...

Joyce - I just have this visual of the "Sharing Police" smaking the food out of your hand and then cuffing and hauling you away! Only to be placed on probation, of which you violate because you ripped the tag off of your mattress.

The Sharing Police - much like Johnny Fever's feared Phone Cops?

Has anyone been this week to the 3 course menu for $25? If so, do you remember the menu options available? It's not listed on their website.

Weird font alert again!

Andy, I'm going tonight. We'll see.

Uhh, Joyce, you sure you're OK? Step slowly away from the Malbec...

Trixie - my heat went up TODAY!!!! Def NOT ok - but not drinking (yet)! There was a different font thing going on at work, but this computer looks fine. Wine drinking begins in 1.5 hours (have to at least wait til 5!)

Joyce, I saw it, too, but didn't want to say anything after the last time. So, we're hallucinating together, I guess.

I do hope your partner doesn't mind. Please assure her my intentions are honourable!

Joyce W.--major bummer about your heat.

I have always understood that the sharing charge applied if you asked the server to split your salad or appetizer in the kitchen and serve it on two separate plates. I never felt inclined to pay extra for that ... does anyone?

Joyce,
Surely you have heard of the old saying "Its 5 o'clock somewhere".

Cheers!

Andy, the DaMimmo's special, at least tonight was a choice of minestrone soup or insalata mixta, a choice of a veal dish (saltimbuca?), a chicken dish (2 boneless breasts with a sauce that involved onions, IIRC), a salmon dish with capers or linguine carbonara, then a choice of fresh strawberries or a cannoli.

My friends enjoyed their soup. I had the salad, which was a very nice mix of a few kinds of greens, carrots, grape tomatoes, onions and a few other things in a house dressing that was...boring. Even some fresh ground pepper (although I hate the waiter with pepper grinder thing) would have helped. Better yet, some herbs and garlic, perhaps some lemon juice. I was disappointed that the dressing didn't live up to what it covered. I would have prefered it be less cold, or even room temperature, but that is a personal preference, so I can't fault them for that.

My friends enjoyed their salmon (quite a large piece) and chicken, both of which came with a small side of pasta and red sauce. The linguine was rich and the flavours melded well.

We all got the cannoli, not wishing to deal with the disappointment of winter strawberries. It was small, on a raspberry sauce drizzle, with chocolate chips in the filling. The shell was crisp and probably filled to order. It was quite tasty.

The garlic bread was fancier than necessary. The espresso came with lemon zest and sugar on the side. It was a properly short shot, but the machine needs to be backflushed badly. (I should say that I've only had espresso one time in a restaurant or coffeehouse where the machine didn't need to be cleaned.)

The service was pleasantly old fashioned. I was thrilled that our water glasses continued to be filled after we paid. We hung out and chatted a bit (there were some empty tables and no one waiting). It was very pleasant to sit in the wide, comfortable chairs and let our meals digest for a few minutes without feeling like we were being rushed back out into the cold.

All in all, it was a pleasant meal. I'm glad we went.

Joyce, your heat went out on the coldest day of the year, and you STILL waited until 5 to start drinking? You are a stronger woman than I am! Hope it is up and running...

Dahlink - I figured it was something to that extent, but that still seems unreasonable to me (especially $10). I could understand it a little better if it were a really "complicated" dish. You know, something that needs to be fully intact to be appreciated, for lack of a better description.

And Lissa - I have always found that hallucinating with another is a much more enjoyable experience!

Great report Lissa -- thanks for reporting back!

I actually wound up going there last night too. It was a good value for $25 compared to their normal outrageous prices.

THE HEAT IS BACK ON!!! After one night of being migrants (taking pets and kid and even the hermit crabs - lest they freeze), the crew arrived promply this morning at 8:30 and I had heat at around 10:30 am. Not too bad - but, it's still cold here (not that I'm complaining after what we came into!). Not shilling, but shouting out props to Bruce Solomon for great service during this awful cold snap!

Lissa - thanks for having my back! I'm glad you saw it too and no, my partner isn't jealous over my hallucinations! Your restaurant review was great and it sounded like you all had a great time - which really adds to the enjoyment of the meal.

To all the well wishers - Thank you! The heat going out on the coldest day of the year is something that I hope I don't have to repeat in my lifetime!!:)