Vegetarians, beware: this post is not for you. In September, Jimmy Kimmel set the record for the world’s largest meatball, after seeing Sony Pictures’ 109 pounder in August, in honor of the upcoming film “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.” Kimmel’s ball of meat weighed in at 198 pounds. But now, someone is challenging Kimmel: Nonni’s Italian Eatery, inside the Holiday Inn in Concord. Nonni’s goal is to create a 200 pound meatball on Sunday, November 1st, and is making the record-breaker an all day event with their first annual Family Day. The event will include plenty of free food, as well as a meatball eating contest, and even someone from the Guinness Book of World Records will be on hand for the final weigh in. Can the folks at Nonni’s do it??

On Wednesday, I had the privilege of judging Nashua Crossings’ version of Iron Chef. The event not only allowed me to eat and critique six different dishes made with the “secret ingredient,” but it also allowed Benchmark Assisted Living’s top chefs to compete in order to raise money for a good cause: the One Company Fund. One Company is a “hardship fund” with the goal of supporting their associates that find themselves in a position of need resulting from circumstances that are out of their control. The evening involved two teams of chefs: the green team and the blue team. Competing chefs included Joe Gerber, Food Service Director of Nashua Crossing (green team), as well as Guy Hemond, Vice President of Dining Services for Benchmark. The secret ingredient of the evening was shrimp, and both teams brought their creativity and culinary skills to the challenge in an inspiring way. The teams each had to make three courses with the crustacean, and it’s amazing what they came up with. As a judge, I had to critique each dish on presentation, creativity, taste and organization on a scale of one through five, five being the best. I have to say, the judging was fairly easy - everything was delicious. From spicy shrimp with cheesy grits to shrimp paired with cranberry risotto and gouda, the chefs created a menu that was extremely diverse, innovative, and downright tasty. The best part, besides raising over $1,000 for the One Company Fund? The patients of Nashua Crossing seemed to be having a fun night out - a night I doubt they will ever forget.

There is more going on at The Black Orchid Grille than there is in my own personal life. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but here’s the scoop on BOG: their lunch menu is back Wednesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and there prix fixe menu (which was so popular during Feast Week) has also been brought back. The lunch menu includes salads (the Black Orchid Salad is a must try), sandwiches, pizzas and entrees (like Louisiana Style Jambalaya and Grilled Steak Tips Chimichurri), with casual sides like French fries and onion rings. Most dishes are about $8-15. The prix fixe menu is three courses for $27.50, and it sounds like it will change weekly. I’d sign up for their e-newsletter to get weekly updates on the fixed price dishes, but three meals for under 30 bucks? Thanks to the recession, we no longer need to rely on the chain restaurants for such good deals.

The Village Smokehouse (with another location in Brookline, N.H.) is one of the newest restaurants to arrive to downtown Lowell, Mass. The Village Smokehouse has been open in Brookline for twenty-one years, and credits its success to a secret family barbecue recipe. The Lowell location is almost 3 times the size of the Brookline spot, and an open barbeque pit allows diners to watch their meals being cooked on an open flame. The dinner menu includes items like the Smokehouse’s famous Stuffed Jalapenos, Baby Back Pork Ribs, Beef Brisket, and Texas Sausage. Steaks, burgers and fish are also available, as well as a kid’s menu, helping to make this a family-friendly, affordable and relaxing new restaurant in historic Lowell.

The Village Smokehouse is at 98 Middle Street in Lowell.

I lived right outside of NYC for about 4 years, and I have never had a bagel as good as a NY one until I tried Bagel Alley at 1 Eldridge Street in Nashua. I grew up in Merrimack, so we had Hot Rize Bagels as our Dunkin’ Donuts alternative. Hot Rize is decent, but Bagel Alley’s bagels are completely out of the N.H. ordinary. This is because the local bagelry forms the rings of dough and lets them sit for a day while they rise. Then, each bagel is pampered with a 30-second spray of steam, giving the circles of dough an appealing shine and outstanding taste. Last weekend, I tried their everything bagel with chive cream cheese; a breakfast I’ve had many places, but none have been as good. The bagel had the poppyseeds, crispy onions, garlic, and sesame seeds on BOTH sides of the bagels, without being too overpowering for a morning meal. The bagel itself was perfectly crispy on the outside and airy and moist on the inside. The cream cheese was even chocked full of fresh flavor, and complimented the bagel wonderfully. Their coffee is Green Mountain, but, let’s be honest; no one’s going their for a signature cup of coffee. The small restaurant also serves up bagel sandwiches (open-faced and closed), as well as wraps, sandwiches, soup and salad for lunch.

YouYou Japanese Bistro on Broad Street (right across from the Kohl’s plaza) serves authentic Japanese, Thai, Korean and Euro-Asian cuisine, not to mention some amazing sushi. The unique restaurant embodies the atmosphere of a high-end eatery, yet you probably won’t spend more than $20 a head for dinner. The last time I paid a visit to YouYou, I had the vegetarian dumplings ($5.50) and octopus sashimi (4 pieces for $5.25). Sashimi, for anyone who does not know, is simply thinly sliced, raw seafood. The dumplings were so good, they still haunt me in my sleep; perfectly golden brown and crispy on the outside, and the filling was spiced to perfection. The octopus, on the other hand, is an acquired taste; the texture was a little too chewy for me, and the tentacles a little too real. However, after two glasses of plum wine, the octopus got easier to eat. Service was a little on the slow side, but the waiter’s upbeat personality made up for the delay.

Villa Banca on Main Street in Nashua is known for their delicious Italian cuisine and relaxed atomsphere, but their waitstaff needs to be more attentive and knowledgeable about their menu. At the same time, they need to update their menus online to mirror their actual menus at the restaurant.

I recently paid a visit to the Italian eatery to try what their website called a “Cranberry Martini” for an upcoming 5 & Dine article. To my disappointment, when I was at the actual restaurant reading over the drink menu, the Cranberry Martini was nowhere to be found. I asked the waiter if this particular martini was still up for guzzle, and, after looking at me like I had 3 heads, he simply said “we have never had a Cranberry Martini on the menu.” Now, this waiter could be new to Villa Banca and just doesn’t know the menu, but if the website says they make it, the bartender should be making it. To top it all off, their website states that Villa serves “Nashua’s most generous martini.” Being my first time getting a martini there, I was disappointed in the size of the glass; the taste of the martini I decided on, however, was good (see November’s 5 & Dine in Feast for a review).

As for the food, I enjoyed the free, delicious bread with the creamy, flavorful garlic butter, and split a Villa Banca Sampler ($20.99) with my mother, which included a dense lobster cake, extremely rich and salty gorgonzola artichokes, fried calamari, baby stuffed portabella mushrooms and rustic bruschetta, topped with starchy white beans. The dish was good, but nothing to write/blog home about. It also would have been nice to enjoy the appetizer with our drinks, but the dish didn’t hit our table until my martini was long gone.

Silo’s Steakhouse in Merrimack is giving consumers no excuse to stay at home and hide from the horrors of today’s economy, by making it fun and affordable to go out to eat again. For starters, Silo’s is jumping on the brunch bandwagon, and will be offering Sunday Brunch made to order; no buffet. A “10 Under $10″ menu has also been added to their offerings, which includes a variety of smaller portions of Silo’s most popular dishes, including Steak Tips, Certified Angus Burger and BBQ Baby Back Ribs. Some other additions: a Tavern & Tapas Menu for those who want to relax in the bar and enjoy the game, as well as homemade desserts prepared by Sweet Cierra’s. And did I mention they also have a new wine list?

It has been at least a year since my last dinner at the Olive Garden, and this past Saturday night I was pleased to discover that not much has changed. The Italian chain, that has a rep for serving “fast food Italian,” offers delicious food, a variety of vino, and solid customer service. The wait for a table (even at 4:15 p.m.) can be 45 minutes and up, but there wouldn’t be a long line of customers if the waiting wasn’t worth it. On this most recent trip to the Olive Garden, I sipped on Riesling (Chateau Ste. Michelle, $5.65) and enjoyed the warm, buttery breadsticks and fresh salad, while waiting for my entree: Stuffed Chicken Marsala ($15.25), filled with Italian cheese and sun dried tomatoes, smothered in mushrooms and marsala sauce, with comforting mashed potatoes on the side. The meal was absolutely delicious and full of flavor, yet the portion was small enough to leave me plenty of room for dessert. To wash down my meal, I opted for the seasonal Pumpkin Cheesecake ($5.95): a creamy, rich, generously-sized way to enjoy the flavor of the Fall. The cheesecake was also topped with a thick layer of whipped cream, drizzled with caramel sauce and sprinkled with ginger cookie crumbs.

Black Orchid Grille at 8 Temple Street in Nashua has made some delicious-sounding additions to their formal dining menu. The restaurant prides themselves in modernizing old American classics, and their new items stay true to this theme. The new menu includes crepes with MacIntosh apples, Gorgonzola cheese and pecans; goat cheese salad with shallot confit and duck cracklings, osso buco and duck confit; and daily specials of ravioli filled with seasonal ingredients. If you don’t like the sounds of any of these new items, I still recommend paying a visit to the Black Orchid Grille; they offer upscale dining at an affordable price, and also offer a full martini and wine bar.