Eataly
200 5th Ave
New York, NY 10010
Yelp

Eataly is everything Italian food.  It’s part restaurant, food court, food hall, market, and specialty store rolled into one giant sprawling behemoth.  NYC is blessed to have not one, but two, locations throughout the city.  I could have easily spent hours here just looking around and never buying a thing.

Meat

Seafood

Cheese

…more cheese

Dried pasta, canned tomatoes, Tomato sauce

Eataly has every imaginable type of Italian food served between their 6 different restaurants, 5 fast-casual counters, and 3 cafes.  I wanted it all, but had to restrain myself to a sample of their focaccia bread and pasta.

Focaccia prosciutto, mozzarella, tomatoes, basil
The focaccia could have been moister but I loved all the toppings.

The pasta restaurant at Eataly has a selection of fresh and dried pasta dishes.  Everyone thinks fresh pasta is king, but high quality dried pastas can be just as good or better in some ways.  We were lucky to be dining here on a Tuesday when they offer a pasta tasting menu.  You get to choose 2 pastas for $25.  I love variety so we jumped on this offer.

Lumache sweet sausage, fennel, escarole, pecorino romano
The fat elbow pasta was well balanced by the salty sweet sausage and the slightly bitter escarole and rounded out with a gentle sprinkle of cheese.  A lovely and lighter dish.

Ravioli spring pea, ricotta, pecorino romano, mint, butter, pea shoots
The waiter recommended this dish which was delightful.  It felt like a delicious bite of spring with all sorts of green and lightness from the ricotta.  It did not require much sauce to shine.  It was prefect just with butter.

Calamari shrimp, pei mussels, scallops, tomato sauce, garlic, white wine, parsley, chili
The heartiest of our pasta dishes was not short on the seafood.  The dried pasta was notable for its more al dente bite.  The sauce was basic but still spot on.

Linguine crab meat, ramps, chili, lemon, butter, breadcrumbs
This was my favorite dish in our pasta tasting.  The crab meat, ramps, and lemon butter played very well together.  It made me think, “Gosh, I want to try making this at home so I cant eat it everyday!”

I was so stuffed and thoroughly pleased after our exploratory lunch at Eataly.  I wished I could have spent more time there just wandering around, maybe without The Annoyer who seemed a little bored since there weren’t any raw fishies or shellfish to be had like at Tsukiji Market.  It’s just a great place to get your feel for everything Italian food.  Trust me when I say the place is so much more than pasta, focaccia, or any of the foods shown in the pictures here.  Had I room, I would have loved to try something from their Nutella bar or gelateria.

10 – You NEED to eat here
9 – Awesome (food + market experience)
8 – Very good (food alone)
7 – Good
6 – OK
5 – Average
4 – Not bad
3 – Not good
2 – Terrible
1 – Do NOT eat here