You might know that Siena Tavern, the Chicago Italian eatery that opened in South Beach last month, has an in-house celebrity.
No, it's not chef/partner Fabio Viviani (although the Top Chef alum, who recently published his second book, does have star wattage).
It's actually a meatball. What some people might blow off as merely an appetizer, actually has her own Twitter account (@SienaMeatball).
See also: Siena Tavern Opens November 10: Numbered Bar Lab Cocktails, Exclusive Wynwood Brew
If you're asking why the use of "her" as a pronoun for a hunk of beef, it's because of the flirty, sometimes cheeky tweets, like when she arrived in SoBe:
I'm in Miami b&tch.
— Meatball (@sienameatball) November 6, 2014
Or the time she got a little sloppy with a guest:
Just stained some dude's shirt. LOL!
— Meatball (@sienameatball) November 8, 2014
After all that tweeting, I was invited to finally meet the meatball, and try some other menu items while I was there.
First, the meatball. She arrives in her own little cast iron "throne", befitting a social media princess. This oversized meatball is made from wagyu beef and topped with Bellwether ricotta and shaved basil, swimming in a sea of roasted tomato sauce. At $22, she's pricey, but large enough for two (or more). Served with toasted bread drizzled with EVOO, the meatball is tender, juicy, flavorful, and the best thing I tried at the SoFi bistro.
The Brussels sprouts pizza with fingerling potatoes and truffle oil ($21) had a wonderful, chewy and firm crust, but needed the "sprucing up" of red pepper flakes to give it a little punch.
Orecchiette with prosciutto sausage, watercress, chili flakes, and pecorino ($22) was served al dente and steaming hot. A hearty dish for those cold Miami evenings when the temperatures plummet to below 70 degrees.
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Leave room for the bomboloni. Siena Tavern's signature dessert, the Italian doughnuts arrive warm, accompanied by three vials of fillings -- whiskey caramel, chocolate hazelnut, and raspberry. Just plunge the vial into the bomboloni and squeeze. What should be a mess works perfectly and you've just made yourself a custom doughnut. With a neat trick like that, we think the bomboloni deserves its own social media presence, too. #saveroom. #bombolonisneedlovetoo #stuffitmeatball.
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