It’s long been agreed upon that Heaven is a place with food. Many versions of food paradise exist, but my most recent experience of divine transcendence happened at a market before 10a.m. on a Tuesday. This little Heaven is Eataly Downtown, the highly awaited second location to the wildly popular Flatiron destination. The Italian marketplace first came to New York in 2010, and has since seen a surge of patronage from tourists and locals alike.
Photo by Jane Bruce
Allowed a sneak peek at the new location, which opens to the public on August 11th, I ascended to the third floor in the massive World Trade Center Tower 4 to an impeccably organized market. Giant windows allow the bright summer sun to pour through, making the food look even better than it already is. My eyes flicked back and forth from the tiny white and purple striped aubergines, to crusty piles of Parmesan, to frothy cappuccinos, landing on buckets—actual buckets—of bread.
And to the new Eataly, bread is actually just that: precious. Each Eataly store around the world is dedicated to a particular theme or concept, and the downtown location will focus on loaves. It seemed obvious that bread would come into play—it’s an Italian market, after all—so what’s the catch here?
“Let’s put it this way,” Mario Batali, celebrity chef and Eataly partner, began over coffee. “In the carb counting 90s, everyone still came to our [Italian] places. If you are gonna have a carb, you aren’t going to have a shitty muffin at Starbucks. You are going to have something really good.”
Photo by Jane Bruce
And while I am not above a shitty muffin from anywhere really, Batali does have a point: the bread at Eataly is out of this world.
“This is our celebration of the culture of bread around the world. Every month, we will have a different baker from around the world come in, we will have a monthly special, in addition to our crazy good in-house baker [Fulvio Murino],” he says. “I told him I thought his focaccia might be as good as Jesus.”
With bread baring the holiest comparison, how could someone not indulge? Though it was barely breakfast time, Eataly held nothing back (nor did I, sampling legitimately all the things). While the bites were exceptional, not a moment has passed since I left the market that I have not thought about the mini piadina stuffed with speck, gorgonzola and eggplant. Funky, salty cheese blended the eggplant and crispy bread together for a decadent few bites. “There is lard in it! LARD!” The friendly gentleman assigned to the piadina counter reiterated a few times. Duh, that is why it tastes so damn good.
Photo by Jane Bruce
In addition to the meals—you can choose from one of the six eateries or five dine-in restaurants—the Eataly marketplace itself is as abundant as it is engaging. With over 600 employees, it was apparent that (most) everyone working on the floor was totally sold on what they were doing. Training was still in progress when I stopped to watch someone learning to make mozzarella, sloshing the stringy white almost cheese in a giant vat. Three guys hand-pieced together gnocchi, more kneaded bread, oyster shuckers shucked, espresso machines roared. Everything looked, smelled and tasted amazing—but where is it all coming from?
“I get only the best products from Italy,” Head of Purchasing Dino Barri explained. “This is stuff I want to eat. You are what you eat, you know? I’m not going to eat shit.”
“What we can import from Italy, we do,” he continued. “Everything else, like fresh produce, we source from upstate and local farmers.”
Photo by Jane Bruce
Italian food this fresh and curated is bound to be delicious, but the fun part about Eataly goes beyond the groceries. Education around food is a huge component of the market’s philosophy, and it’s clear that the staff understand this. You can, of course, watch the various tradesman at work (“culinary theater,” they call it) but they also offer free classes to the public. Classes start at noon, 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. daily, and are available on a walk-in basis.
While I ate ravioli filling from a spoon (thank you for this blessing, ravioli angel man), they talked me through the process of making the filling, how to pinch the ends properly, the proper way to egg wash noodles. I would return just for the olive oil class alone, as the instructor there easily helped me identify the notes I was tasting per region; now I know that Sicilian olive oil tastes more artichoke-y, Ligurian are lighter.
Overwhelmed, overstuffed and generally amused, I sadly bid farewell to Eataly Downtown—knowing very well the next time I return it will be packed to the gills with excited eaters. If you are a fan of the Flatiron location, visit this one before it gets saturated with guests. I imagine popping by in the early morning for a long, lazy stroll down the beautiful aisles, sampling cheese and mortadella will suit any food lover quite well.
Eataly Downtown opens at August 11, 2016. They are located on the 3rd floor of 4 World Trade Center at 101 Liberty Street.
