Best of New York 2011 • Eating

• Co.

  230 Ninth Ave., at 24th St.; 212-243-1105

  Everybody knows that a good meatball is a light meatball, and the lightest meatballs are made with bread crumbs. So, you’d think that the man with the readiest access to some of the city’s best crumbs (Jim Lahey of Sullivan St Bakery) would capitalize on that advantage when he recently decided to add a meatball plate to his pizzeria’s menu. But you would be wrong. The secret to these heavenly orbs, you see, is not the crusty remnants of his loaves. Nor is it the Pat LaFrieda veal or some special ball-rolling technique. The secret to these, the best meatballs in town, is—brace yourself—mashed potatoes. Yukon Golds, to be precise. The fresh tomato sauce is no slouch either. And to sop it all up, you have at your disposal some world-class Italian bread

From the 2011 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine