Bright And Spacious, The New Eataly Downtown Is A Culinary Destination Unlike Any Other
If you love Italian food (and who doesn't?), Eataly is a must-visit when in New York or Chicago. The New York original (the first in the United States when it opened in 2010) is a sprawling utopia of Italian restaurants and food products, but the soon-to-open Eataly Downtown (located on the third floor of the recently constructed Tower 4 WTC), which we had the opportunity to tour earlier this week, just might be even more impressive.
"We weren't looking to do another Eataly in New York, but we saw this space, and had the opportunity to be a part of the rebuilding of downtown, so we jumped at it," said partner Adam Saper, who owns the company along with Mario Batali, Joe and Lidia Bastianich, Oscar and Nicola Farinetti, and Alex Saper. "It would have been a low-end food court, but instead we're bringing something really special to the neighborhood."
The new Eataly, which unlike its uptown cousin is surrounded on nearly all sides by windows and bathed in natural light, has multiple "departments" and restaurants all seamlessly woven together, like the other locations. Along with returning favorites (including an espresso bar, a mozzarella bar, a fresh pasta counter, fresh pizza and breads, a butcher shop, a rotisserie chicken and panino station, and cheese and charcuterie shop), this Eataly is also rolling out a free culinary "university," a piadina shop, a fresh juice bar, a shop specializing in bite-size Italian pastries called pasticcini, a made-to-order salad station, a breakfast-oriented restaurant that transforms into one that highlights sustainable seafood for lunch, and a sprawling Osteria with its own separate dining room. And as always, more than 10,000 imported Italian products ranging from olive oils and pasta to fresh truffles and aged balsamic vinegar are also on offer.
Each Eataly has a theme, and upon entering guests will see a large display of breads from around the world, revealing this location's. "Bread is about communicating and coming together, breaking bread," Joe Bastianich said. "Every country shares bread, and we're going to be baking it in a wood-burning oven, and we've partnered with other bakeries to become the first Eataly to serve bread from around the world." A different bread variety will be featured every month; the first will be bagels from Manhattan's Kossar's.
That idea of bringing people together to break bread right across the street from the 9/11 Memorial isn't a coincidence. "The significance of what happened here makes it very emotional to become a part of this community," Saper said. "But we're here to celebrate life."
Eataly Downtown will open its doors at noon Aug. 11, with a ribbon cutting to be presided over by Lidia Bastianich; the first hundred guests will receive a ticket for a complementary tasting tour of the new store. Starting Aug. 12, it will be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. And be on the lookout for their next location, opening in Los Angeles.
