Last night marked the start of the NYC Wine & Food Festival and with it came an extreme case of meatball madness. Literally. To host the night's San Pellegrino-sponsored meatball showdown — and with more than 25 renowned chefs vying for top honors — the Food Network's first lady of Italian cooking, Giada De Laurentiis, was on hand to welcome the hungry masses. Not only did De Laurentiis showcase her own meatball-making skills, but she and festival founder Lee Schrager (pictured above) also made the rounds to taste-test each and every meatball in the house.

I caught up with the beautiful De Laurentiis, pre-meatball-induced food coma, of course, to find out if she had any early-evening favorites, where she goes to eat when in town, and more. Keep reading!

PopSugar NYC: As host of Meatball Madness and after sampling all 25 meatball contenders, do you have a shoo-in for tonight's top honors?

Giada De Laurentiis: I have a couple, but I don't think I should share yet! It's not fair . . . yet. I will tell you that the Greeks [Kefi (505 Columbus Ave., 212-873-0200)] rocked it, and there's a rabbit meatball that's pretty darn great. You have to find it.

PSNYC: It's great to be celebrating food in NYC for the next couple of days to such an exciting degree, what are some of your favorite restaurants here?

GDL: It definitely depends on the mood I'm in. I go a lot to Maialino (2 Lexington Ave., 212-777-2410), which is here tonight. I went to Lupa (170 Thompson St., 212-982-5089) and got my favorite pasta, the one with fennel and lemon. It's very light, but it's absolutely delicious. And I have to have the tartufo for dessert, after that I'm set. Last but not least, I love Il Gattapardo (33. W. 54th St., 212-246-0412) by the MoMA.

PSNYC: Are there any food trends that you wish would go away for good in 2012?

GDL: The idea of low carb, no carb, and fat free — they don't exist!

PSNYC: What else is in the pipeline for you?

GDL: I just shot a show in Bora Bora, a prime time show called Giada in Paradise, which was awesome. I start shooting Giada at Home in about three weeks, and I have a cookbook coming out in April 2012. So . . . a couple of things!

Source: Neil Rasmus/ BFAnyc.com