Meatballs.
Those juicy, little meaty spheres of flavour explosion! A fond memory of my childhood was helping nonna roll out those little balls, moulding together the ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg and spice, always aiming to get them about the same size (which rarely happens when you’re 6). Then watching them brown in the oven before dropping them into the big pot of tomato sauce, straight from her garden of course! The grand prize at the end is prodding a fork around in the pot for the final taste test. When finally digging out that meatball, it’s like finding the jackpot at the end of a rainbow! That marvellous creation that I helped create, now ready for devouring!
(NB: this is still one of my favourite things to do when I walk through nonna’s door and smell that fresh aroma of sauce bubbling away on the stove top.)
Meatballs. Who doesn’t love them? So when I heard about a little restaurant in the 11ieme called Balls, I immediately had to check it out. This little gem is tucked away on Rue St-Maur, only holding about 20 tables or so. It was our lucky evening as there was a table just up front available for six, while the restaurant otherwise was full. The owners, Geremie and Salomee, greeted us with smiles and menus and were quick to serve us our La Levalloise beers, a fruity American style pale ale, and my White Balls cocktail.
The menu was simple: 5 different varieties of the house balls and a special of the month. Since there were six of us, we chose one of each and let Geremie pair them with the offered sauces of either tomato or yogurt and herbs. To go along with our balls, we chose one of each of the side dishes too. In no time, our table was full of those delectable, round masterpieces: beef with parsley and onion, lamb with coriander, pine nuts and cumin, chicken with estragon and lime, pork with fennel and paprika, veggie balls made with eggplant and chick peas, and finally the special of the month, spicy balls made of beef, chorizo and chillies. What a selection of balls!
Now I am not a huge fan of lamb, per say, but bells were going off as I bit into the lamb dipped into yogurt and herbs. And there I sat, a lamb convert! The flavours merged so marvellously together. The traces of fresh dill lingering on my palate, leaving me begging for more. Everyone picked their favourite as we gave Geremie, Salomee and the staff two big thumbs up. We were full of balls. And we were happy!
Before heading off into the night, I had a chance to chat with Geremie and Salomee. I was curious as to how they came up with the idea of opening a meatball restaurant: and the idea was as simple as a meatball is round. They both grew up eating meatballs and decided that this is what Paris needed on the foodie front. And just like that, they both quit their jobs and joined this business venture together. They wanted the world to enjoy meatballs as much as they did as children, putting a fun twist in the traditional beef ball. At their restaurant, there are lots of smile, laughs and memories made. Their motto: "WE LOVE BALLS!"
Great concept. Great ambiance. And most importantly, tasty balls!
Those juicy, little meaty spheres of flavour explosion! A fond memory of my childhood was helping nonna roll out those little balls, moulding together the ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg and spice, always aiming to get them about the same size (which rarely happens when you’re 6). Then watching them brown in the oven before dropping them into the big pot of tomato sauce, straight from her garden of course! The grand prize at the end is prodding a fork around in the pot for the final taste test. When finally digging out that meatball, it’s like finding the jackpot at the end of a rainbow! That marvellous creation that I helped create, now ready for devouring!
(NB: this is still one of my favourite things to do when I walk through nonna’s door and smell that fresh aroma of sauce bubbling away on the stove top.)
Meatballs. Who doesn’t love them? So when I heard about a little restaurant in the 11ieme called Balls, I immediately had to check it out. This little gem is tucked away on Rue St-Maur, only holding about 20 tables or so. It was our lucky evening as there was a table just up front available for six, while the restaurant otherwise was full. The owners, Geremie and Salomee, greeted us with smiles and menus and were quick to serve us our La Levalloise beers, a fruity American style pale ale, and my White Balls cocktail.
The menu was simple: 5 different varieties of the house balls and a special of the month. Since there were six of us, we chose one of each and let Geremie pair them with the offered sauces of either tomato or yogurt and herbs. To go along with our balls, we chose one of each of the side dishes too. In no time, our table was full of those delectable, round masterpieces: beef with parsley and onion, lamb with coriander, pine nuts and cumin, chicken with estragon and lime, pork with fennel and paprika, veggie balls made with eggplant and chick peas, and finally the special of the month, spicy balls made of beef, chorizo and chillies. What a selection of balls!
Now I am not a huge fan of lamb, per say, but bells were going off as I bit into the lamb dipped into yogurt and herbs. And there I sat, a lamb convert! The flavours merged so marvellously together. The traces of fresh dill lingering on my palate, leaving me begging for more. Everyone picked their favourite as we gave Geremie, Salomee and the staff two big thumbs up. We were full of balls. And we were happy!
Before heading off into the night, I had a chance to chat with Geremie and Salomee. I was curious as to how they came up with the idea of opening a meatball restaurant: and the idea was as simple as a meatball is round. They both grew up eating meatballs and decided that this is what Paris needed on the foodie front. And just like that, they both quit their jobs and joined this business venture together. They wanted the world to enjoy meatballs as much as they did as children, putting a fun twist in the traditional beef ball. At their restaurant, there are lots of smile, laughs and memories made. Their motto: "WE LOVE BALLS!"
Great concept. Great ambiance. And most importantly, tasty balls!