A Little Slice of Heaven: The Food Foo Foo at Eataly in NYC

Three words describe Eataly, awesome, over-whelming and crowded. For those who don't know, Eataly is a huge Italian food store on 5th avenue and 23rd street in Manhattan co-owned by chef Mario Batali. In addition to the store, Eataly has 5 restaurants, a cafe, patisserie and a gelateria.

Billy and I walked in and we were immediately taken back at the size of the store and all the people inside. We made a few laps to check out the layout and to see what they had. It was insane. Our first stop was the fresh pasta. Billy loves gnocchi, so we ordered a pound. The guy who helped us was VERY friendly and when he saw that Billy is a fireman, he added in a few extra pieces (well...a half pound more) in our box. Next stop was the cheese. We walked by and noticed that they were packaging fresh mozzarella that they had just finished making. Needless to say, that went into our basket. The cheese shop itself we unbelievable. There were cheeses that I had never even heard of. Right in front of the cheese shop is the Piazza where you can enjoy a glass of wine and plates of cheeses and meats. We walked a little further to the meat market. We bought skirt steaks and the freshest hot and sweet soppressata that I had ever eaten.

We walked past the pasta sauces and dried pasta. The selection was amazing. I was in heaven looking at all the different types of bruschetta, olives, oils and vinegars. I seriously had to battle the temptation to buy everything I saw. We made our way to the produce section were I found the most incredible selection of vegetables..things I have not been able to fine anywhere else (sunchokes!!!). They had every kind of pepper, mushroom, fresh herbs..it was fantastic. We loaded up our basket and headed to the check-out. When we left, I told Billy "This store would seriously makes me consider moving to the city". I wasn't serious...well maybe a little...lol! When we got home, we tasted some our purchases. Everything was excellent. They seriously do stand by their promise of the best quality products. It is definitely a must-see if you are ever in that area.