NYCWFF: Meatball Madness

Of course if consuming 12 burgers at Burger Bash on Friday wasn't enough for my body I pushed the limits even further and ventured into Meatball Madness last night. The new event, hosted by Giada De Laurentiis, attracted some of the most talented chefs in the city while the meat was provided by the meat masters at LaFrieda. In the same space as Sweet, the venue was well spread out allowing attendees to bounce back and forth with ease between the varieties of meatballs available.

You had fish, duck, turkey, beef, pork and lamb all rolled into thousands of the comfort food treat. From raw meatballs (yes raw) to meatball topped pizzas, this was easily a meatball lovers dream. That said, there are only so many meatballs one person can eat and although I wanted to taste them all I only made it through about a dozen or so (that was about half of what was available). Sharing the meatballs and only taking one bite was the only way I made it through even this many, but I definitely tasted enough to name my favorites. See below for a recap, with the restaurants listed alphabetically.

• Abe & Arthur's - The pork meatball was well seasoned, but the spaetzle was way too gummy.
• Butter - I initially loved the Pork & Beef Meatball topped pizza, but found it quite difficult to eat. The cheesiness was a welcome first bite though.
• Convivio - Another well seasoned meatball it was accompanied by many components, including ricotta salata and olives making for a very salty bite. That won't sway me from heading to the restaurant though!
• Felidia - One of the more interesting offerings, this was a meatball tartare served with crispy spaghetti.
• The Harrison - A delicious, simple meatball. I could have eaten many of these (not pictured).
• Hearth - A delicious veal and ricotta meatball that was lightly packed and one of my top bites of the night.
• Little Owl - Always delicious, the always popular meatball slider was a fan favorite.
• Locanda Verde - This lamb meatball slider was delicious, although I didn't like the cucumber slices which topped it. Regardless, it was the judges award winner and Andrew Carmilini walked away with a nice $5,000.
• Josh Ozersky and Mike Cirino - With a great crunchy exterior and very juicy interior, I enjoyed this meatball, but wasn't crazy about the accompanying fonduta.
• Perilla - Harold served up his well-known duck meatballs, one of my favorite dishes of the evening.
• Salumeria Rosi - Somewhat dense, these meatballs were served on a bed of creamy polenta, but what I loved most from this table was the freshly sliced charcuterie.
• SD 26 - An interesting take on a meatball slider, it was a mix of beef and eggplant, breaded, fried then topped with a peperonata, the bun however was too dense for my taste.
  

Overall a fun event, but there was only so much meatball talk and consumption I could take. After about an hour and change we left, finding out the winner later via tweetin foodies. And now I begin the meatless diet, if only for a few days to let my body full recover. For a photo recap see below.