We had a ball! (Or 10 of them!) But who walked away with the night's top prize?
The mighty meatball shined once again at Thursday night’s Meatball Madness, which kicked off the fourth annual NYC Wine & Food Festival. The Food Network’s Giada De Laurentiis played host to over two-dozen 25 chefs, who put their spin on the classic bite. Name the meat and we promise we ate it: goat, pork, beef, veal, rabbit, even lobster! The traditional Italian red-sauce version was well represented by chefs like last year’s winner, Donatella Arpaia, who served a tomato-braised veal meatball this time around.
Others, like Kin Shop’s Harold Dieterle, brought exotic flavors to the table with his Thai-inspired goat meatballs with tatsoi and panang curry. When we asked him what made his version stand out, he noted that “even though I'm Italian, this isn’t Italian. There is no red sauce. It’s balanced and flavorful.”
While there was certainly enough red sauce and cheese to go around, the favorites of the night were smothered in good old-fashioned gravy. The judges singled out Joey Campanaro’s gravy meatball slider from The Little Owl as the night's big winner. The People's Choice Award, on the other hand, was the steak 'n’ bacon cheddar balls on a buttermilk biscuit with mushroom gravy from the boys over at The Meatball Shop. It is no surprise that fans went with Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow for that award: Not only did the two show the most charisma of the night, but they obviously know enough about the sacred meatball to have two successful shops dedicated to the dish!
Text and photos by Vicky Wasik
