BALLS!!!!

When a blog is simply titled "BALLS!", you know you are in store for something good.

I never knew there was such a huge meatball cult following until I moved to NYC and married an Italian. It was around this same time I learned that Ragu canned tomato sauce on any pasta is basically considered a deadly sin--FOGEDDABOUDIT! ( as you can imagine, I sinned A LOT since a can of Ragu is a staple in many Cuban homes like mine).

So through Coco and the vast Italian culture of NY Italians, I was introduced to fresh sauces, spices, and equally fresh meatballs made from ground beef, pork, veal--a combination of two of these, or even three. Goodbye microwavable balls! I was hooked. So imagine my delight when I read about a new restaurant in the Lower East Side of Manhattan aptly named "The Meatball Shop". But, seems like TMS and I had a serendipitous introduction back in May when I was invited to the launch party for the Cooking Channel and they had a station featuring their famous balls on a bowl of polenta. Two balls later and I was salivating. Um, can I shove 100 of these balls in my mouth because they are ridiculously delicious, mouth watering, and fresh!! Liked they picked the ingredients right from a floating garden and put them on my plate. Great first impression.

A couple of weeks later, I convinced Coco and our bff Bets, to trek downtown and feast on some balls so they could make their own assessments. The shop is owned by two childhood friends, Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow, with a passion for meatballs. Michael's wife, even contributes her culinary skillz to the homemade ice cream sandwiches. And believe me when I say, its sweet tooth heaven.

Back to the balls. Ordering is easy and fun with a sort of built-it-yourself menu and the main ingredient on the menu is, you guessed it, meatballs! If you fancy something simple, you can go with the 4 meatball selection (you can choose classic meatball, spicy pork, chicken, veggie, or a weekly special) in whichever sauce (classic tomato, spicy meat sauce, Parmesan cream, or mushroom gravy) your starving heart desires. And the best part about these balls is that they are not over soaked in sauce so no real chance of agita as the Italians say. If you want something a little more adventurous hit up the sliders ( a personal fave!), or the heroes. Or if you want to go all the way, then sample the Meatball Smash complete with healthy salad. You're not done. Don't even think about asking for the check without enjoying one of TMS's yummy ice cream sandwiches. The chocolate cookie with caramel ice cream is plainly put, orgasmic!

It's my fourth time hitting up this hip rustic country kitchen and I'm already planning a fifth visit in the near future. While some may have an issue with the limited options in terms of dishes, I disagree. Give me a meatball 10 different ways and I call that genius. The late hours, people watching (opened til 4am) and cheap prices don't hurt either! As my friend Betsy says, "It's AmazingBALLS!".

Here's to you. Here's to me.

Kathy