Today is National Meatball Day and after a recent dinner at Moroni Hot Pots, I know where you should celebrate.
Owned by husband and wife team (Chef) Mike and Maria Maroni, Moroni Hot Pots is the NYC spin-off of Moroni Cuisine in Long Island. Known for their adorable red enamel pots called “hot pots” – you can order pots to go (or stay) with things like spaghetti with white clam sauce, fresh ricotta ravioli and you guessed it – Grandma Moroni’s Meatballs. The “hot pots” are available for take out and you can either keep the pot or return it for a small credit towards your next pot. (people walking down 2nd Ave with red Moroni pots = genius branding)
The space is bustling with take out but they recently added a mini 14 seat dining room. It’s warm, cozy and you feel just like you’re in Nonna’s Brooklyn apartment. The Maroni meatball recipe is over 100 years old and impressively dethroned Bobby Flay on the Food Network’s Throwdown with Bobby Flay.
For dinner, we started with the “Million Dollar Potato Chips” topped with creme fraiche and caviar. Served three in an order, you want thirty-three. These seem like no big deal until you pop one in your mouth. They’re bursting with flavor, a perfect combination of salty & sweet. Then there was a Shrimp Francese appetizer followed by Chicken Milanese topped with a plentiful salad and well-seasoned balsamic dressing. The prize-winning meatballs were soft, delicious and come in their homemade pomodoro sauce. They even sell jars of this goodness. We tasted the Spaghetti with White Clam Sauce which was perfection (not salty like most are) and the Cacio e Pepe was the stand out. If you’ve never had it, Moroni’s does it exactly right – penne with pecorino romano and cracked pepper. So simple but addictive. And for dessert, they brought us Chocolate Mousse with a toasted marshmallow topping. As you’d imagine, that was pretty great too. But a friend tells me their cannolis are superb.
So, in honor of National Meatball Day, do yourself a favor…
Call Moroni Hot Pots.
Order a pot of meatballs.
Pick it up.
Heat it up.
Walk home and make everyone wonder what’s in the pot.
Mangia.
Thank me tomorrow.
(photo credit: Paul Wagtouicz)
