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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.
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.
Follow Laine Doss on Twitter @LaineDoss and Facebook.
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