Serious Eats: New York
Scenes from the Meatball Melee of the Boroughs
"It's like meatball speed dating.”
Frank Pellegrino, co-owner of Rao's, judging three meatballs.
As an Italian-American, I'm no stranger to meatballs or garish wedding halls, but nothing could have prepared me for Dish Du Jour’s 8th Annual food and wine tasting and the accompanying Best Meatballs of the Boroughs contest. The event was held last night, with its crowd of ravenous Queens locals, at the glittering Astoria World Manor. Dozens of restaurants offered everything from sushi and steak to Cypriot Greek cuisine, and of course, meatballs.
Councilman Peter F. Vallone, Jr. kicked off the contest. “In Astoria you can get every kind of food in a one-block radius. Everybody mangia!” The judges included chef Michael Psilakis of Anthos and Frank Pellegrino, co-owner of Rao's.
Pellegrino made an excellent point: "The problem with meatballs is that everybody thinks their mother's are the best."
Not all the food was to my taste; I tend to prefer way-out ethnic cuisine. That said, these gnocchi de ricotta from local Italian eatery L'Incontro were my favorite item of the night. My new friend, Leah McLaughlin, publisher of the forthcoming magazine, Edible Queens, agreed with my assessment. What made these deliciously light gnocchi so good was that they were formed from spinach, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and egg.
This seafood salad of clams, squid, and shrimp from Water’s Edge in Long Island City was pretty awesome too.
Since the event was held in Astoria, there was also a Greek take on seafood salad from Aegean Cove.
BZ Grill, which has some of Astoria's best Cypriot Greek food, including awesome gyros, is just steps away from the Astoria World manor.
Chef Nick “Nicky Meatballs” Mormando of Bello Giardino on the Upper West Side served up largish fried meatballs that fell squarely in the red-sauce Italian-American camp. Since I didn't grow up eating them I'm not a fan of fried meatballs, but Nicky's meatballs were a crowd pleaser. I ran into two Kansas City Barbecue Society judges, one of whom gushed, “I think they're fine, even better than my mother's.” Then he thought for a second and said, “Geez, I hope she doesn’t visit me in my dreams tonight.”
My favorite meatball of the evening was Campo's. It was made from well-seasoned ground beef and had a touch of cheese in the mix. It reminded me of my father's, though perhaps not quite as good.
Josh "Mr. Cutlets" Ozersky emceed the event. "Has everybody had their fill of meatballs?” he asked the crowd. “I see people looking around for the meatball of their dreams. It's like meatball speed dating."
There were several non-red sauce entries in the contest, including Agnanti Meze’s Greek meatballs and a batter-fried entry that one judge termed "falafelized." In the end, tradition won out and chef Nicky Meatballs took home the prize. Here he is basking in the glory of victory with Mister Cutlets and Dish du Jour publisher Frances Grace. Chef Meatballs beat out some stiff competition including Bar Stuzzichini, Carmine's, and Campo.
As at any good Italian-American wedding there was a cake—this one, a birthday cake for Frank Pellegrino himself, complete with a picture of Rao’s.
Emceeing meatball contests must be hard, hunger-inducing work. Here we see Mister Cutlets noshing at BZ Grill before driving off into the night.