Executive Chef Linda Harrell invited four chefs from other Atlanta restaurants that will participating in this year’s Atlanta Meatball Festival into her kitchen at Cibo E Beve. Each chef prepared a signature meatball.
Photo credit: Henri Hollis
The first meatball to arrive at the table was a perfect little package created by Chef Drew Belline of No. 246. A wonderful example of a traditional Italian meatball plated with a splash of pomodoro and a basil leaf. Yum.
Next up was a gluten-free meatball made with Springer Mountain Farms' chicken. This morsel created by host Chef Linda was lighter than its beefy cousins with a chunkier style marinara.
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A “smoked” meatball from 7 Lamps Chef Drew Van Leuvan was a nice surprise. The meatball was made with beef and pork braised in a sincerely smoky puree of tomato and eggplant; a very nice adaptation on a classic.
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The biggest revelation of the evening came in the way of the duck meatball with a hoisin-style glaze served atop kimchi collards presented by Chef Justin Keith of Food 101. This was truly an exceptional meatball!
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The last sample of the evening and winner of the “size matters” award was a humongous meatball in a well prepared tomato gravy came from Top Chef Ron Eyester of Rosebud who delivered his offering to the table with a mischievous grin as he said, “Ready to taste my balls?”
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While the food items we sampled were complimentary, we received no additional remuneration. The opinions included herein are honest and unsolicited.