If you can’t afford to fly to Rome, a subway ride to Eataly is a close alternative. Eataly, which opened last August, is an enormous marketplace, with different restaurants for pizza/pasta, vegetables, fish, steak, gelato, panini, etc, as well as a “supermarket” selling items such as homemade chocolate-hazelnut sauce, imported from Torino, (that relegates Nutella into silly putty) and pasta made in-house, in every shape and size.
A 45-minute wait for a table at the pasta/pizza restaurant provided time to explore, but by 9:00 pm I just kinda wanted dinner. The atmosphere was less than fastastico. We were seated in a narrow hallway above the restaurant. Although it had a view of the marketplace, the ambiance was still not up to par with the cuisine.
The pizza margherita tasted as it should, each bite evoking Napoli: a combination of mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano, a stretchy, slightly charred crust, tomato sauce made from sweet San Marzano tomatoes, and fresh basil to top it off.
As delicious as the pizza was, next time I plan to skip the restaurants, and simply wander around for an hour or two, perhaps buying a latte or gelato (or, likely, both).
Tutti in tutti, Eataly is well worth the voyage. And I do mean voyage. Just is if you were traveling to Europe, you might want to bring a camera, and get a map upon arrival!
Eataly is located at 200 5th Avenue, between W. 23rd Street and W. 24th Street.
Eataly is located at 200 5th Avenue, between W. 23rd Street and W. 24th Street.
