November 1, 2026 was the exact 10 year anniversary of DiAnoia’s Eatery. Chef Dave Anoia, DiAnoia’s co-owner and co-founder, says seeing people come back year after year, celebrate milestones at the restaurant and make DiAnoia’s part of their lives makes him all the more grateful for this milestone.  

Celebrate 10 Years of DiAnoia’s Eatery

“This industry isn’t easy, and there have definitely been challenges along the way, but I’m really proud of what we’ve built,” he said ahead of the evening. “We’ve been fortunate to have an amazing team, a lot of people who have been with us for years — some from day one — and guests who have continued to support us since the beginning.”

The entire restaurant space — dining room, bar and tables placed throughout both spaces — were filled with DiAnoia’s supporters new and old at a ticketed dinner Sunday celebrating a decade of DiAnoia’s Eatery. 

Laura Phillips and Bryan Mills were two guests who had been there from the beginning, eating at the restaurant “at least two nights a week” before the birth of their child brought them out of Pittsburgh and into suburbia. A recent run-in with Dave and co-founder-owner Amy DiAndrea Anoia, who invited them to the event, brought them back. 

“We’re so proud of Dave and Amy,” Phillips said. “We started coming here as soon as it opened. The food can’t be beat; that’s why it’s been around for 10 years.”

Brett and Daniella Wilps used Sunday’s dinner as a chance to celebrate their anniversary. They got married at DiAnoia’s on October 12, 2018 in an intimate ceremony with family, friends and loved ones. 

“It’s kind of surreal, honestly, [hearing them] talking about their anniversary and being here for our anniversary at the same time,” Brett Wilps said.  

“We still love coming here,” Daniella Wilps added. “We still recommend it to anybody that comes to [Pittsburgh].”

A November Dinner Menu That Runs the DiAnoia’s Gambit

After a cocktail hour with a free seasonal spritz, tables of Sfincione squares, savory cornetti, a charcuterie spread of Italian meats and cheeses and passed apps of zingy branzino crudo and octopus salad, Anoia introduced longtime DiAnoia’s workers and those returning to celebrate — including veteran bartender Nicole Battle, longtime pastry chef Rachel Walton and opening general manager Heather Perkins, who helped choose the optional wine pairings for each course. 

Perkins said it’s rewarding to be part of something that lives on past her tenure. 

“I’ve worked a lot with these people,” she said. “It feels like family. Restaurants are so intimate, and you get to know people so quickly. To see people sticking through and making things come to light … it feels special.”

Then began the 18-dish family-style affair, separated into six courses that revisited past favorites and celebrated the eatery’s menu evolution. 

“It’s been fun looking back at what we’ve created, remembering where some of the dishes started and bringing them together for one night,” Anoia said. “For our longtime guests, I think it’ll be a little nostalgic — and for newer guests, it’s a chance to experience some of the dishes they may have missed from the past.”

Fresh Italian Cuisine in Every Course

The antipasto course consisted of the restaurant’s celebrated fresh bread with whipped ricotta (always a hit at any DiAnoia’s visit), salty, chewy cooked provolone and pickled peppers; escarole, beans and sausage with chicken stock sopped up by any leftover bread; and a citrus fennel salad that was equal parts palate cleanser and digestif ahead of the three pasta courses.

Pasta uno began with the restaurant’s cacio e pepe with Italian white truffles followed by a basil-forward heirloom tomato tripoline, rounded out by a shrimp al Limoni with Ossetra caviar that gave a salty bite to the lemony shrimp pasta. 

Pasta due included heartier pasta dishes, including a carrot bolognese lasagna tasty enough that you didn’t miss the meat; bucatini all’Amatriciana with guanciale and chili flakes; and rigatoni allo straccotto with tender, melt-in-your-mouth red wine-braised beef.

The carbs continued with the gnocchi course, with three different kinds of gnocchi served: The restaurant’s usual gnocchi & meatballs, gnocchi sorrentina bread bowl and a seasonal gnocchi pumpkin dish with gnocchi, pumpkin cream, mozzarella, and basil served in a roasted pumpkin. I tapped out at the gnocchi and meatballs, but wished I had more room for the pumpkin gnocchi.

Secondi e contorni was a meat-heavy course of bistecca fiorentina with crispy fried potatoes; porchetta with drippings and focaccia for dipping; branzino; Coyne Farm’s half chicken with salsa verde; and roasted cauliflower with ricotta, pine nuts, pesto and breadcrumbs — my favorite dish out of the protein-focused course. 

For the final dolce dessert course of assorted italian cookies and pastries, many guests, myself included, chose to pack the variety of sweets to-go after hours of back-to-back deliciousness. 

How to Try the Menu for Yourself

Yesterday’s dinner isn’t the end of the decennial celebration. From November 3-8, DiAnoia’s will offer a three-course tasting menu of favorites: a first course of fresh bread with whipped ricotta, greens and savory, saucy beans (specifically, hot Italian sausage, cannellini beans, and escarole in chicken stock), and a fennel citrus salad; a second course of classic, pepper-y cacio e pepe, crowd-pleasing gnocchi with meatballs, tender guancia di manzo andshrimp al limon for the seafood lovers; and a dessert-course cookie sampler. 

The three-course family style meal is $68 per person, but each item can be purchased a la carte in combination with DiAnoia’s full, regular menu. 

Additionally, the DiAnoia’s pastry team is whipping up three sweet dessert specials for the month: a fig and strawberry balsamic cheesecake; St. Joseph’s cream puffs filled with luxurious custard; and a dense lemon olive oil cake. 

We wholly recommend booking a reservation after getting a bite of the tasting menu and dessert offerings on Sunday. 

For more information on the 10th anniversary menu, visit the DiAnoia’s Eatery website. 

And share DiAnoia’s this holiday season by picking up its Thanksgiving To-Go offerings at Pane è Pronto. Plus, explore the rest of Pittsburgh’s restaurant scene with our compete guide.

About the Author

Amanda Reed has written for Popular Science, Pittsburgh Magazine, Pittsburgh City Paper, Very Local Pittsburgh, GearPatrol and TheStreet. Amanda earned the 2021 Ray Sprigle Best of Show Award from the Western Pennsylvania Press Club for a story on stressed-out college counseling centers. She lives in Bloomfield with JunkJunk, a handsome, sad-looking tuxedo cat who wants only wet food and attention.

Photos by Anna Laero Photography

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