NYC — Spring 2013: Eataly

On our second day in New York, my mom and I were left to our own devices for lunch. Where to go? I figured we'd just walk around the surrounding neighbourhood of our hotel until we found a restaurant that looked good. We didn't really have any preferences which, of course, makes it harder to decide. But the moment we passed Eataly, I was like, "Bingo!" I had been reading about Eataly on many New York food blogs over the past couple years and always wanted to try it, but for some reason, I never made the trip there (maybe because we never thought to walk around Flatiron District). So it was really meant to be this time around. For those who've never heard of it, Eataly is described by Mario Batali (who co-owns the place) as "a grocery store with tasting rooms." After making our way through the place, we eventually decided to eat at the pasta and pizza station — each station or "tasting room" has a full-service dining area complete with wine lists, so it really is like having multiple restaurants in one massive marketplace. It is crowded in there by tourists and New Yorkers alike, even on a Monday afternoon, so we were prepared to wait (30 minutes, according to the host), but luckily, a couple ended up going to another "tasting room" so we snatched up the last table.
Fresh crusty Italian bread served with olive oil
Salsicciotta pizza
As usual, my mom and I decided to share two dishes, so I decided on one pizza and one pasta dish. We decided on the Salsicciotta pizza, which has tomato sauce, mozzarella, Eataly housemade sweet Italian sausage, mushrooms, and basil. There was a good portion of fresh toppings, the mozzarella was fresh and evenly dispersed (so important!), and there wasn't too much tomato sauce (I hate pizza that is over-sauced). The sausage is positively delightful; I'm used to the typical spicy Italian sausage, but this one has a fantastic zesty, slightly sweet flavour that goes incredibly well with the earthiness of the mushrooms and freshness of the basil. And, as we know, the crust makes or breaks a pizza. This one was absolutely perfect — thin but substantial enough to hold all the toppings, a nice just-burnt-enough crisp on the outside, with a good chew on the inside, and a nice yeasty flavour (many pizza places have flavourless crusts, reminiscent of cardboard). Truly fantastic Italian-style brick oven pizza.
Gnocchi al Ragù di Agnello
Our pasta dish came next: housemade potato gnocchi with braised lamb shank ragù. The gnocchi here are firmer than the ones I had at Campagnolo, which are almost creamy, but are still soft and pillowy with an amazingly satisfying chew. What really stood out here was the lamb ragù, a sauce that both my mom and I were raving about even hours after leaving the place. I have no idea how they made it, but I could've eaten a vat of it. It's tomato-based but it doesn't have that tartness to it that many tomato sauces have. The lamb, which is incredibly soft and tender, adds a beautiful richness and fantastic gamey flavour to it. Most importantly, the sauce-to-pasta ratio was just perfect so that you get just the right proportion of flavour and texture in each bite. I still salivate just thinking about our meal here. Just... glorious. If you're in Manhattan and want quick and insanely tasty Italian food, make sure you stop by Eataly — they have pretty much every type of Italian edible imaginable to please just about everybody, and you can literally spend an afternoon exploring the marketplace. The hardest part is just deciding which tasting area you want to try first.

Eataly 200 5th Avenue New York, NY 10010 (646) 398-5100