Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- When Oprah Winfrey's book club selects a novel, millions of copies are sold. If her television show pushes junk food, will we get fat? Perhaps.

S'mac in Manhattan's East Village can get packed. The macaroni and cheese joint got a shower of ``Lord-have-mercy'' praise on ``The Oprah Winfrey Show'' last year.

Now there's a new S'mac outpost on the Upper West Side. Expect crying children, $600 baby carriages, a flat-screen TV playing cartoons. And beer.

So how's the product? Not great, but very good. Cast-iron skillets hold a crowd of elbow noodles. Is the pasta al dente? No, but that's OK. A bread-crumb-studded, barely burnt crust picks up the slack. Add bacon for salt and smoke.

The lovely stench of melted cheese fills the room. An offending party is a version with Muenster, cheddar, gruyere and pecorino. Give the buffalo-chicken version a try. It has a bright chili-vinegar kick without too much spice.

Pinch (Pizza by the Inch) shares the same space. My slice was thin, with cloying tomato sauce. Remember Ellio's? That's what it tastes like. Your kids will like it. You won't.

Lunch for two cost $24.

Pinch and S'mac is at 474 Columbus Ave., near 83rd Street. Information: +1-212-686-5222; http://www.pinchandsmac.com.

Subversively Tasty

A new restaurant in east Midtown serves meatloaf without ketchup. Let the protests begin.

When you mess with classic dishes, people complain. Initially. But they still eat. Inevitably. Then the grumbling stops. Occasionally.

That's the circle of life at Mia Dona. It's mostly Italian, a tad American and very tasty in a subversive little way.

It's the latest collaboration between restaurateur Donatella Arpaia and chef Michael Psilakis, the Long Island- raised duo that brought us the original Dona (now closed) and Anthos (now crowded).

Say hello to Arpaia. She isn't a back-office owner. She's a front-of-the-house host: She answers phones, greets you at the door, stops by your table, hangs out at the bar.

The space evokes a suburban living room. It's mismatched and homey. The street-side space has wooden floors. The back rooms have zebra rugs. Decorative plates (lions, seminude women) line the walls. Bookshelves stand in the rear. Coat racks block the windows.

Thank Psilakis for his unexpected creations.

This guy has a tradition of tweaking tradition. At Anthos, he matched raw tuna with mastic oil, called it Greek and charged $18 for about three delicious bites. The noveau-Zorba jig earned Psilakis a Michelin star.

The cartwheels are subtler at Mia Dona -- and cheaper. No entree is over $24.

Maritime Curds

Mixing cheese and fish is frowned upon at high-end Italian venues but standard practice at casual Italian-American joints. The Greek-inclined Psilakis sides with the latter camp. He puts pecorino on swordfish and stracchino on clams. I liked my mussels -- they sopped up a prosciutto-studded tomato broth; I'm undecided about the parmesan floating on top.

Americans eat their meatloaf with a burnt glaze of barbecue sauce or ketchup. It's as close to a culinary requirement as hot dogs on a bun. Psilakis disagrees. He pan roasts little footballs of beef, pork and lamb to a juicy succulence. Watch out for the hidden treat: There's a whole egg inside. Yolk oozes out as you cut the loaf.

There are traditional touches, like squash-stuffed tortelli with dried cherries and walnuts. Truffle butter perfumes hefty ricotta gnudi; chewy ham provides a saline kick.

Bunny Nuggets

Crispy rabbit confit? Sure. Dip the tender bunny nuggets in a cool cucumber remoulade. It sounds Italian. But the breadcrumbs are panko -- Japanese.

Try the spiedini. Assorted meat skewers get a smoky pass over the charcoal grill. You get quail (rare), sweetbreads (creamy), merguez sausage (spicy, juicy), lamb meatballs (impossibly light) and pork involtini (nice and chewy).

Finish things off with a sweet maple panna cotta.

Dinner for two cost $161.

Mia Dona is at 206 E. 58th St., near Third Avenue. Information: +1-212-750-8170; http://www.miadona.com/.

(Ryan Sutton is a writer for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Ryan Sutton in New York at rsutton1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 26, 2008 00:02 EST