Saint Nonna of SoHo

House made grappa and tiramisu built for two at House Of Domes

When war scattered Albania’s best and brightest in the ’90s, New York gained a quiet culinary renaissance. Those refugees, fluent in both hardship and hospitality, slipped seamlessly into the kitchens of Little Italy, preserving the flavors that the old guard had long since carried off to Long Island.

At House of Domes, that legacy finds new light under Chef Vilfrid Hodoj, the tattooed Tuscan-trained talent turning tradition into something luminous. Joined by NYC event superconductor Susan Martin, I discovered not just impeccable service and flawless meatballs, but the warm pulse of immigrant grace that’s kept Italian cuisine alive in America’s most restless city.

Read: “Saint Nonna of SoHo.”