If you want to get the best meal of your life, you need access to the freshest ingredients and people who know how to cook things right. There is a big difference between dining at a Farm-to-Table type of place as compared to the typical restaurant setting. Personally, I prefer the Farm-to-Table set up but I discovered something even better. On my last trip to New York I came across one of the most interesting food concepts I’ve experienced so far—Eataly.
Eataly is a 50,000 sq. ft. Mecca of Italian food. Now who would put up such a massive marketplace? The world renowned chef, Mario Batali, of course. Every type of Italian food you could possibly crave for can be found in this one space that features a unique combination of grocery isles, market-style stalls, sandwich stands, and restaurants.
The best thing about this place is that everything is made from scratch. All the products are either sold directly to the customers or used to supply the restaurants on site. I had the best time checking out their wide selection of cheese and cured meat.
Since this is a very popular destination, all the restaurants were full so I decided to try one of the sandwich stalls. I got two sandwiches because one is never enough. The first one had Salami, Mozzarella, and Arugula on Sourdough bread. The second one had Prosciutto, Mozzarella, and Arugula stuffed in pizza dough then baked in a brick-oven. The second sandwich was definitely my favorite. It’s what happens when a pizza and a sandwich get married and have babies—amazing!
At Eataly, you can actually watch them prepare the food right in front of your eyes. It’s such a treat to order your favorite Italian dish and watch how the chef’s cook it. It’s like watching the Food Network but you actually get to eat the food afterwards—it’s pretty awesome.
Now, unto dessert. The dessert section was filled with gorgeous pastries and mountains of sweets. I had no idea where to start. Everything looked so delectable.
I love Venchi’s Pick & Mix section. You can mix and match your favorite chocolate flavors to create your very own pack of sweets.
The next time you’re in New York, or if you already live there, go to Eataly to grab a quick sandwich for lunch or to get handmade pasta for dinner or to create a customized pack of sweets for that special someone. Whatever you end up with will surely taste amazing.