Delizioso! Delta One Marinara Braised Meatballs [Review]

I hit a jackpot last week: I scored a Delta One upgrade on my Los Angeles to New York-Kennedy flight and enjoyed my favorite Delta One meal: Jon & Vinny’s Marinara Braised Meatballs.

I first had the dish a couple of years ago during an LAX to Tokyo flight. And I was very excited it was offered on my LAX to JFK trip. (Want to see the meals offered on domestic Delta One flights? Read this post.)

The Current Delta One Experience

Delta One ain’t what it used to be. (Oh, well. #FirstWorldProblems.)

Paper menus are gone. (COVID, you know…) So, flight attendants may give you a QR code you can scan with your mobile device. Or they’ll verbally list the menu.

What I refer to as “cocktail hour” is sort of hit-and-miss. Every time prior to this flight that I rode in Delta first class (at least when meals were available), drinks were offered and served before the meal. Then flight attendants would ask if you wanted something else to drink with your food.

Our LAX to JFK flight crew served drinks and meals in one shot. On the way home — which I’ll review soon — we were served drinks before our meals arrived. Then we were offered refills or the opportunity to order a different drink when served our food.

Delta One Meatballs

I ordered a red wine for my meatball lunch. The flight attendant accidentally confused my seat (8D) for another (8A) after I agreed to switch from my original seat (5C). Long story. So I received 8A’s drink instead: cranberry and soda with no ice. (I took a sip just for curiosity’s sake. Let’s just say I won’t order it. Ever.)

A different flight attendant delivered my red wine and apologized profusely. Then my “original” flight attendant came by and also apologized. I smiled (behind my mask, of course) and assured both of them that I was 100% fine and happy. (I wonder how often passengers flip out over innocent mistakes like this?)

I’m not really a salad guy. I love a good baby greens salad. But every now and then will try something different. And I’m sure happy I did this time!

This was Delta’s “Baby Gem Lettuce with Garlic Breadcrumbs and Calabrian Caesar Dressing.”

I ate it dry (I like sesame dressing. That’s it.). But the garlic breadcrumbs really made the salad delicious.

Then there was bread. So much bread. I generally try to stay away from too much bread — which is easier said than done. (I love bread.) But I made an exception during this trip and tried all of the bread I was offered. You know, just so I could give you an honest, complete review 🙂

Garlic toast was served in the meatball dish (we’ll get to that in a second). But featured on the side — on its own plate, natch — was Delta’s very good “Rosemary Focaccia with Cultured Banner Butter with Sea Salt.”  The menu tells us that Banner Butter is “a batch-churned, slow-cultured butter, is made with fresh cream from hormone-free, grass-fed cows with no added flavoring. We go big, but only in taste. Everything else is small, simple, and slow. Cultured, churned, cut, and packaged in Atlanta, Georgia.”

And now for the main event.

That’s parmesan cheese drizzling the meatballs. And a side of whipped ricotta is served in a small dish.

The meat was tender and absolutely delicious. There’s just a hint bit of spice. I’m a very picky eater and generally don’t like spicy food. But even I thought the slight kick was perfect.

I used the garlic toast to sop up any remaining marina sauce.

But, wait! There’s more! We can’t forget dessert!

Check out this dark chocolate cake.

I love dark chocolate. I love cake. This combination did not disappoint. It was very rich — and I was full of bread and meatballs — so I ate only half the cake. But I wish I had room for more!

Final Approach

I recommend Delta One’s meatball meal. The meatballs are delicious and the portions are appropriate. (I wasn’t hungry again until late that night.) I look forward to enjoying it again!

Have you had the Delta One meatball meal? Please share your thought in the below Comments section!