Polpette, oh and La Vita è Bella!

Does this belong on the blog or no?



On the one hand, what you see in the photo are meatballs (polpette), which people do eat in Italy.

But they don't typically eat them meatball-sub sandwich-style over there, and these particular meatballs were covered in Southern barbecue sauce.

But these polpette were fatte in casa (homemade) and contained high-quality ingredients, both hallmarks of good Italian cooking.

The dish, which was seasoned with goat cheese and covered in greens, was the special Tuesday at Le Petit Marché, a sandwich shop and market in a neighborhood in south Atlanta called Kirkwood (The shop is located at 1963 Hosea Williams Drive, in case any of you locals are curious).

I was still debating whether to post info about my sandwich while I biked home. But then I saw a sign of bell'Italia that helped me make up my mind.

I'm always looking for signs of Italy wherever I go, and especially wherever I live. Of course at home, I stack the deck by lining the bookshelves with Italian novels and the walls with Italian posters.

But that makes it oh so sweet when a little piece of Italy shows up in an unexpected place. I especially love seeing Italian words.

So when I saw what's in the photo below, it seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up. Sometimes we need a little boost, and a little reminder. This wooden sign on the front porch of a house in Kirkwood provided just that (you may need to click on the photo to read the sign).



È vero! La vita è bella!