A Visit to EATALY in NYC

EATALY is a giant Italian gourmet food market and food hall located at 200 Fifth Ave. between 23rd and 24th streets in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City. When they opened in late summer there were lines of customers around the block waiting to go in to experience and shop in what is billed as “the largest artisanal Italian food and wine marketplace in the world.”  Now it was to be my turn to visit. (As always, all photos will enlarge when clicked on once, and then again when they open on a new page)

The New York City EATALY was created by restaurateurs Mario Batali, Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, and Joe Bastianich, and patterned after the original in Turin. Italy, founded by Oscar Farinetti.

EATALY features multiple restaurants and over 20 retail departments, most with their own dining areas. The seven prepared-food areas include Le Verdure (vegetable), Il Manzo (meat), Il Pesce (fish), La Pasta (pasta), La Pizza (pizza), I Salumi e I Formaggi (salumi and cheese), and Il Crudo (raw bar).

As soon as we entered EATALY, my husband and I bought an espresso coffee to enjoy at the Lavazza Cafe .

We admired all the exquisite looking varieties of pastries, panna cottas, crostatinas, and hand dipped chocolates in the Pasticcera (bakery).

The Salumi e Formaggi (meat and cheese) section has a wonderful selection of fresh Italian artisan cold cuts for sale...

....including fresh mozzarella being made on the spot.

Fresh pastas are also made daily.

Look at all the wonderful varieties of fresh pasta to choose from! We wanted to try them all but decided to buy just on one, which I'll show you at the end of this post.

There is also an extremely large dried pasta and macaroni section in EATALY with a dazzling array of brands, types, and shapes of imported pasta.

My husband felt like a proverbial "kid in a candy store" while he looked at all the different kinds of pastas!  Many were ones he remembered from his childhood in Italy. Since our supply of dried pastas at home was sufficient we didn't buy any on this visit, but it's nice to know that we will be able to come back and select one for a special dinner at home in the future.

We next visited the large Pane (bread) bakery.

Just look at the selection of fresh baked breads and focaccias available!  Many were still warm from the oven. The aromas from all this bread was delightful!  We couldn't resist, and made a selection to bring home.

We then looked at the offerings in the Macelleria (Meat Department)......

....and large fresh Pesce (seafood) department.

The Rosticceria has roasted meats and chicken, and some Cortoni (sides of cooked vegetables and pastas) to take out.

EATALY has almost every imported product needed for the preparation of authentic Italian food that you can imagine! There were isles and isles of olive oils from every region of Italy, fruit preserves, beer, wine, sodas, jams and syrups, capers, anchovies, grains and rices, sauces, honey, nuts, sweets and chocolates. Fresh dairy products were locally bought from Battenkill Creamery, Ronnybrook Farm and NY Milk.

There were even a selection of imported housewares and cookware for sale.....

....and a nice cookbook area to browse in.

Their fresh fruits and vegetable produce selection has all been purchased from local farmers.

The display baskets full of vegetables looked as beautiful as a still life painting.

EATALY's novel "Vegetable Butcher" received a lot of excitement from the press when the market first opened. If desired, you can have the vegetable butcher wash, clean and cut the vegetables that you purchase at no cost.  I would not mind having their services for something I find tedious and time consuming to prepare, like artichokes. The butcher stand also has items such as pre-soaked beans available for purchase.

There are many different dining areas located in EATALY, each one associated with a different food section.

There are fish, vegetable, pasta and pizza restaurants.

Manzo is the fine dining Italian steakhouse, and the only restaurant in EATALY that accepts reservations.

This is the wine bar. The EATALY wine shop is in a separate store next door. There are also plans for a 4,500-square-foot rooftop beer garden and brewery.  Eventually EATALY will be over 50,000 square feet of retail and restaurants all in one location!  Cooking demonstrations and classes, cookbook signings, and other special events are also offered on premises.

Don't forget to stop to have a cup of creamy gelato at Il Gelato before you go home!

EATALY is located in one of my favorite areas of Manhattan, in the Flatiron neighborhood.  I usually like to take a stroll in Madison Square Park when I am in this area, but today we decided to rush home with all our purchased goodies.

We had a quick drive over the Brooklyn Bridge....

....passing a view of an overcast Manhattan from the Brooklyn Queens Expressway in Brooklyn...

....and then we were home again with our purchases.  We couldn't resist buying a loaf of rustic bread, a pound of fresh pasta, and some staples such as rice for risotto and organic cornmeal for polenta.

We chose a pound of EATALY's fresh Pappardelle pasta.

My husband dropping it one by one into the boiling salted water.

The papparedelle served with my home made tomato meat ragu....delizioso (delicious)!

All in all, my husband and I enjoyed our visit to EATALY. Now we have a better idea of what is available and next time we will be more prepared with a shopping list. We are lucky that we have excellent Italian markets in Brooklyn, from which we can shop, but EATALY offers us even more variety.  We'd also like to dine in a few of EATALY's restaurants in the future. My only complaint? It is so popular with both locals and tourists that it was very crowded. Open daily, from 9 a.m.-11 p.m, I will try to visit at an earlier hour next time to avoid the crush and long lines for service.  EATALY is definitely a must see place to visit in New York City and a definite gem for anyone who loves Italian products and food, and local fresh meats, seafood, dairy and breads.

I'm linking today with Foodie Friday, Finding Beauty, Friday Favorite Linky Party and Mosaic Monday! I thank all the respective blog hosts for doing such a wonderful job each week!