Best Meatballs at NYC Wine and Food Festival 2011 (Pictures)

It may be a little early in the morning to be discussing the merit of meatballs, but c'mon, there's nothing like shameless and gratuitous food "porn." And it's Friday. The NYC Wine & Food Festival's Meatball Madness extravaganza provided me with ample savory salivation, enough to keep this meatball madness rollin' straight into today. With host Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis at the event's helm and the city's best chefs competing alongside each other for the judges' and the people's meatball approval, there was no way I was walking home without a full stomach and a memory card packed with meatball magnificence. Mission accomplished.

While I was seduced by Maialino's (2 Lexington Ave., 212-777-2410) rabbit "whiz" meatball, my festival partner-in-crime YumSugar fell hard for the duck meatballs from none other than midtown's Fresco by Scotto (34 E. 52nd St., 212-935-3434). Which meatball do you side with? Better yet, take a look at 16 of the 25 meatballs from the evening's madness — there wasn't enough time to catch 'em all — and make your own meatball assumptions.