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BY LISA KAMPETER

It’s only been a couple months, and the Dining Divas returned to the Grove Neighborhood. We loved Atomic Cowboy, our choice earlier this year, so we thought we’d head back to the neighborhood once again for a different type of dining. Coastal Italian tapas. Small plates but big with flavor.

The Dining Divas chose Mia Rosa located on Manchester Road. At first I thought I was having Dining Divas flashbacks. We sat at a table 10 feet from the bar area and were told we couldn’t take advantage of the happy hour drink specials because we weren’t sitting in the bar. It reminded us of a previous Divas outing at a restaurant that didn’t impress us and has since seen its demise. Great. Another Diva dud, or so I thought.

Fortunately, I know we found a winner. I have continued to recommend Mia Rosa to many people, especially those people who work in downtown who can come for lunch. I call it the “little restaurant that could.” Hopefully, it will survive.

The menu selection even pleased the pickiest of Divas in this group. Most tapas restaurants focus on seafood, but this restaurant had plenty other options to offer. Everything we tried, we loved.

So we were happy. We were happy to hear the Diva who had lost her job last month had already been placed in a new position with her former company. We were happy to hear that Grandma Diva received the royal treatment from her kids and grandkids when she visited them in Maryland. We call her Queenie for a reason. And we were most happy to hear that Queenie’s 89-year old father who was trying to save $17 by rotating his own tires survived a mishap in the process. A broken arm didn’t keep him from teaching his senior aerobics class that week!

But it was the Colorful Diva who had the entire table of Divas in tears. Tears of laughter. She shared with us details of her first trip to New York. We rarely get to enjoy this Diva in the condition she was in, but because she was outside of the Channel 5 viewing area, she let loose. She made a lasting first impression to many, particularly her husband’s ex-wife.

The city was overwhelming. Between the exploring of New York and the wedding of her husband’s stepdaughter’s, she had quite an adventurous week. With the ultimate goal of being the lovely, classy wife to her husband, she believed some red wine and some white wine (and again some red wine and so on) would help her do the trick. And it did help her. She was very happy. Very talkative. Very energetic. Later, at the recommendation of the ex-wife, he practically carried her to their hotel because walking was no longer an easy task. I say blame the stilettos, not the wine.

Keeping her glasses on her face was difficult too as she later had to go dumpster diving into the trash can she accidentally dropped them into. We’re so proud.

But just like all good wives, she got up the next morning and cooked breakfast for her husband, hangover and all.

During the storytelling, our friendly waitress delivered fresh rolls to us, crunchy on the outside, soft and warm on the inside, served with tasty olive oil. We loved them so much we couldn’t stop at just one Tapas food is meant to be shared. We ordered many plates and passed them around. The Shrimp and Basil Risotto with parmesan was so good that the plate wasn’t even passed. It was too good to share. The Pork Tenderloin with mashed potatoes barely made it around the table.

The Adventurous Diva tried Ceviche, raw seafood cooked in lime juice. It looked like a fruit cup made up of scallops, tilapia, and shrimp. While she loved it, a few of the Unadventurous Divas made faces. She also enjoyed the Warm Beet Salad and the Crab Cake with Shrimp.

The Caponata, Sicilian-style Eggplant with herb crostini was extremely delicious and reminiscent of a dish the Italian Diva’s grandmother used to make. A few of us tried the Bruschetta of the Day, made with spinach, mushrooms, and cheese. The consensus was the same. Yum! The Polenta Fries were different and delicious.

We should have stopped at just a couple plates, but why stop there. We ordered many plates, and there’s even more to try the next time. This “little restaurant that could” is priced right, aesthetically pleasing, non-smoking, and trying really hard to please even the pickiest of Divas out there.

This group of Divas would definitely try it out again, especially with the chance of seeing the Colorful Diva in all her glory.

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