Massive Meatfest: NYC Wine and Food Fest’s Meatball Madness by Brandy Shearer in Behind the Scenes, Events, October 10th, 2010
- Meatballs, meatballs, meatballs!
Who makes the best meatballs? With the answer at stake, the New York City Wine and Food Festival’s festivities opened with the return of the ever popular Meatball Madness, hosted by Food Network’s own Giada De Laurentiis.
- Giada at Meatball Madness
Among the mass of hungry revelers mixed Food Network favorites Anne Burrell, Aarti Sequeira, Donatella Arpaia and Cooking Channel‘s Chuck Hughes–all greeting their fans in good cheer.
- Aarti with fans
Leave it to Chopped food and wine specialist Ted Allen to bring the focus and the camera lens back to the reason for the event, a smorgasbord of finely crafted, eminently waftable … meatballs. Iron Chef Judge Donatella Arpaia took the win. But the competition was stiff, and every entry was delicious.
- Ted Allen sampling the wares
Find out who was in the running. After the jump, a feast for your eyes.
From Carmine’s Restaurant:
- Meatballs with Eggplant Parmigiana
From A Voce:
- Ricotta Filled Meatballs with Calabrian Chili and Fennel
- A Voce's meatballs
From Porter House:
- Sicilian Meatball with Pinenuts & Raisins
- Meatballs from Porter House
From Felidia:
- The “Naked” Ravioli Meatball
- Felidia's meatballs
From Giada De Laurentiis:
- Meatballs a la Pizzaiola served with Tomato-Basil Sauce
- Giada's rendition
From Motorino:
- Neapolitan Meatball
- Motorino's Meatballs
- The Meatball Shop's take
The crowd swelled around The Meatball Shop table. One could ask, Was their popularity because of their segment on Unique Eats? Could it be the meat’ball’ jokes Executive Chef/Co-Owner Daniel Holzman served up that were as spicy as his meat sauce? Could their cheesy polenta serving as a base for their spicy pork meatball clench the evening’s vote as the fan favorite? Not quite. Donatella won. But they–and the other meatballer chefs and the fans–will be back.
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More posts from Brandy Shearer.
can Ted Allen cool it ? His attitude and that of his elitist judges is disrespectful to the quality chefs vying for the prize in the ridiculous competition .
the girl next to aarti is beautiful!!