www.queenscourier.com • march 2013 • lic courier 23 dining We’re back! Home-cooked Italian dishes at Mia Famiglia BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO After Sandy left Mia Famiglia in Long Island City under seven feet of water, the Vecchio family fought to start the new year bringing the community back recipes making any mouth water. A genuine warmth and love comes out in the dishes at Mia Famiglia as each member of the family adds their own touch. Although Lawrence Vecchio, owner of Mia Famiglia, occasionally makes his way into the kitchen, the main genius behind the restaurant’s cuisine is his sister, Laura. Being a self-taught chef, she says the best teacher has always been her mother. “The way we do it at home is how we do it here,” she said. “What we make is what we’re raised on.” Antoinette Vecchio, aka “Mama,” comes into the restaurant to surprise customers preparing her take on classic Italian soups, sauces, meatballs and cakes. Mama is specially known for her homemade cheesecake – but we’ll get to that in a little bit. Before each dish leaves the kitchen, it is “Mama inspected” for perfection, making sure each customer gets the best of the best each night. Although the restaurant is located on the lower level of the Wyndham Hotel, the Vecchios want to make sure their customers know they are not part of the hotel. While they provide services for hotel guests, they welcome hungry customers to come off the street to indulge for breakfast, lunch and dinner or just to have some drinks. With “Mambo Italiano” playing in the background, the familial quality in the food is clear once we caught sight of our two selections off the appetizer list. The first, cold antipasto, gave us an insight on the freshness of ingredients to come. Chef Laura promised customers would always get fresh cut vegetables, meats and cheeses. The dish is an artwork of perfectly salted roasted peppers and olives topped with parmigiano reggiano, surrounded by fresh-cut slices of prosciutto, salami, brasaola and provolone. The grilled portabella that followed melted in our mouths as we tasted the topping of breadcrumbs and gorgonzola drizzled with olive oil. After getting recommendations from our waiter, based on his knowledge of the family’s specialization in sauces, we decided on pasta and chicken for our entrees. My orecchiette, ear shaped pasta, was softly sautéed with garlic and oil and topped with broccoli rabe and sweet sausage. The chicken marsala was where the marsala wine reduction sauce, prepared by Laura, stood out. The tomato sauce of the spaghetti that joined the chicken on the side blended with the sweet, creamy sauce creating a perfect Italian relationship. Always leaving room for dessert, we shared a slice of Mama’s famous homemade cheesecake accompanied with a cappuccino and espresso. The recipe behind this soft cloud from heaven dates back 110 years. The only ingredient Mama would reveal is the substitution of cream cheese with traditional ricotta cheese, making the texture of the cake more like a delicate mousse. Regardless of the cold weather that awaited us outside, we left Mia Famiglia feeling like we had just visited grandma’s house and enjoyed a warm home-cooked meal from start to sweet f inish. Mia Famiglia 44-29 9th Street, Long Island City, NY 11366 718-906-1906 Hours: Mon – Sun, 6:30 am-11pm
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