Mispillion River Brewing hosting meatball 'convention'

Mispillion River Brewing is hosting "Meatball-Con" on May 16 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Milford brewery at 255 Mullett Run St.

The inaugural meatball "convention" will be a celebration of all forms of rolled meat. It will feature meatballs made by local restaurants, live music, and, of course, beer.

And, now really, isn't this brilliant? Meatballs are the perfect, two- or three-bite party food and always make a great pairing with cold brew.

The beauty of the meatball is that it's open to interpretation. It can be made with any type of meat (or dare we even say seafood?) and flavored with onions, herbs, spices, and bound together with bread crumbs and/or egg.

Meatballs can be poached, pan-fried, grilled or broiled. They can be packed on rolls, grace a pile of pasta, be threaded on skewers, poked with toothpicks and served with or without a sauce. Talk about a food for all tastes. Brilliant.

Some of the participating eateries include Restaurant 55, Roma Italian Ristorante, the Pickled Pig Pub, Abbott's Grill and Hari Cameron's soon-to-open Rehoboth Beach eatery Grandpa Mac.

The $30 cost for the rain-or-shine event includes two beers and tastes of meatballs made by every participating restaurant. A tasting ticket is $30; admission for designated drivers is $15.

A VIP ticket, which includes unlimited brews, meatballs, a T-shirt, a "koozie" and preferred parking is $75. Visit mispillionriverbrewing.com/

Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com. Read her culinary blog Second Helpings at www.delawareonline.com/blog/secondhelpings and follow her on Twitter @pattytalorico.