The Lingotto district of Turin, Italy was an industrial area, best known as the home of the FIAT factory that is now seeing a grand revival. The FIAT factory is now a Meridien Hotel and shopping center, and the 2006 Winter Olympic Village and speed skating track were established in the neighborhood.
The foodie transformation began in 1996 when the Slow Food Movement set its biannual Salone del Gusto exposition in the Lingotto Convention Center. Carlo Petrini, founder of the nonprofit movement, hails from the town of Alba. Alba is just a few miles from Torino, in the Piedmont region.
Eataly transformed the former Carpano Vermouth Factory into a gourmet superstore in early 2007. Its tremendous success was followed up with smaller branches opening up around Italy in the years that immediately followed.
New York City 2010
Much anticipation followed the opening of the Italian stores that they would come to American. New York City is no stranger to Italian immigration, so it was the natural venue for the first American operation. Italian-Americans food gurus Mario Batali and Joe and Lidia Bastianich’s B&B Restaurant Group teamed up with the original creators, Oscar Farinetti and Luca Bassigo. B&B to open the new store. Eataly New York occupies 50,000 square feet space at 200 5th Avenue (in the Flatiron district), inside a former bank building that retains its grand high ceilings.
Among the collaborators bringing their products and brands to Eataly New York are Alessi, Grana Padano, Venchi, Lavazza, and Birra Moretti.
Eataly: Shopping and Dining Experience
On any given day you might see Mario Batali strolling the store grounds in his trademark orange Crocs. He’s not alone for in the months after opening the store grew so much in popularity that several hours of waiting time for a seat at one of the dining establishments became the norm.
Just like in the main Italian store, the restaurants are organized thematically. La Pasta & Pizza serves just what the title implies. There are others for meat, fish, vegetables, roasts, Panini, focaccia and pastries. Manzo, the meat restaurant, is the only section that takes rservations. While the eateries in the original Torino location have a frenzied, free-for-all situation with patrons clammoring around seats waiting for one to empty up, in New York diners can put their names with the host and then wait in an orderly fashion.
The ambiance is casual, and the eating areas are plopped in the middle of the shopping areas. When eating at Pizza & Pasta diners are surrounded by rows and shelves of different dry pasta shapes. Unlike anywhere else in the U.S. the pasta shapes are organized by region, so you can “visit” the Liguria section and help yourself to a box of trofie, for example.
The shopping experience includes a cheese counter with exports that are otherwise difficult to find stateside, like Castelmagno cheese and other regional specialties. The vast bread counter will temp even the most conscious carbohydrate watcher and is overseen by Nancy Silverton, famed for her Los Angeles La Brea Bakery and Mozza connections.
A perfect end to a trip to Eataly is a scoop from its gelateria. Eataly joins another Torino food export in bringing authentic Italian style gelato to America. In 2007 Grom opened on the Upper West Side and later in Greenwich Village. Piedmont is a big dairy area, known for its butter and cream sauces, so it should be no surprise that its gelato would take New York by storm.
For those who want to add an education to their shopping and dining experience, there is also the Scuola di Eataly, offering a variety of food courses and even some Italian language learning.
Annabella Gualdoni - Annabella Gualdoni is a lawyer by education but works an educator and real estate professional. She has bought, sold, and renovated ...
