Kobe meatballs

(Jodi Hilton for the Boston Globe)

"There's no such thing as cheap Kobe beef," says Jeremy Sewall, chef-owner of Lineage restaurant in Brookline, where an appetizer of meatballs made with the prized beef is on the menu. At $11, it may be the lowest-priced Kobe dish in town. But it's meatballs. If you're going to serve or eat luxurious beef, wouldn't you want a steak?

Not necessarily, says Sewall. "I didn't see the value of bringing in something like that. Kobe has a beefy, silky richness," he says. He doesn't think those qualities are lost when the meat is ground.

Meatballs are typically made to stretch spare items in the kitchen. Sewall says that lesser cuts of meat are usually used in meatballs, along with stale bread, milk, and other odds and ends. For Lineage's Kobe version, the chef seasons the ground beef with salt, pepper, and fresh herbs, then adds ricotta and crème fraîche to lighten it. "You don't want to add too much to it," he says. "You don't want to lose the integrity of the Kobe." With meat this distinctive, we're not sure that's possible. Lineage, 242 Harvard St., Brookline, 617-232-0065, lineagerestaurant.com. - LEIGH BELANGER