Eataly: A slice of Italy in NYC

By Sabrina Enayatulla

When a friend of a friend’s Oklahoma-born-and-bred boyfriend suggested that my bestie Tina and I have dinner at Eataly in Gramercy, I thought that was his Midwestern accent getting the best of him. Turns out, the place is actually called Eataly, as in “eat” meets “Italy” equals “Eataly,” which is also a really cute way of getting Americans to pruh-nunce stuff right.

Walking into Eataly is like turning up at the most incredible birthday party where there’s a pinata and a pony and a pool and a water slide and a high-dive and a bounce house…and everything is edible. Eataly is a seriously intense celebration of food and you can feel the pulse of grown-up excitement against the hum of noise that is laughter and conversation. The place is essentially every food lover’s dream. It’s a massive indoor market, which sells high-quality products purchased from local farmers, fishermen, buthers, bakers and cheesemakers with more than a handful of restaurants you can eat at. And the most incredible part is that all the food served in its many restaurants is made from ingredients sold in the store so you can actually try your hand at the stuff you just ate. It’s basically the original “Fashion Star” but of food, and way less frustrating than when you’re watching “Barefoot Contessa” and Ina’s all, “Now rub a little Le Saunier De Camargue Fleur de Sel into the steak,” and you have no idea what she just said so you Google “flour de salt” and find out that your steak rub is going to cost $11 plus shipping and handling because you don’t live in The Hamptons…or Bordeaux.

The Eataly experience is a little overwhelming at first if you’re a newbie like I was, but once you realize that there are too many people there for someone not to call for help if you get trampled in the playground of foodies, you start to feel a little more relaxed. After walking around to get a feel for exactly how Eataly worked (there are designated areas for restaurants serving everything from vegetarian dishes to beef to fish and seafood) we decided on La Pizza and La Pasta. I’m pretty sure “La” stands for Awesome.

I wish I could boast that I was the girl who turns away the bread pre-meal, but even after 13 seasons of “The Biggest Loser” I’m a [drop the beat] slave for bread. A few years ago when my husband and I were living in the D.C. Metro area, we went to Teatro Goldoni for dinner. And though I have absolutely no recollection of what either of us ate as an appetizer, main course or dessert, my taste buds shiver in delight when I recall the olive oil our waiter served with the bread basket he brought to our table. That oil was like nothing I’d had in my life (even in Italy) and my husband and I joked that it was so increbile we could have drank it straight out of the bottle. Thankfully my social IQ is too high to do such a thing. No, actually it’s not. It just so happened that we had a very attentive waiter and I didn’t think I could do it without getting caught or being asked to leave the restaurant.

I’ve had a lot of olive oil and bread combinations over the years and none have stood out like that evening in D.C. — until my visit to Eataly. Because of the amount of time seperating the oil experiences I can’t accurately say which oil was better, but I can say that the oil at Eataly served with our just-crusty-enough bread made a lasting impression.

For our main courses, we went halfsies on a Margherita pizza (mozzarella, tomato sauce, parmigano reggano and fresh basil) and the Pansotii di Ricotta e Spinach (housemade pasta with local ricotta, spinach, lemon butter and pistachio). The food was served hot; it was delicious and perfectly portioned.

I have a list of favorite restaurants, but like traveling, I’m not a fan of going to the same place too often lest I deprive myself of trying new things. But at Eataly, you can return over and over again in your search to try new foods, coffees, cheeses, flavors of gelato, breads and pastries while discovering something fresh and new at the market with every visit.

All photos by Sabrina Enayatulla

Restaurant Info:
Eataly
200 5th Ave.
(nr 23rd St.)
New York, NY 10010
212-229-2560
Gramercy

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