Last week I
went to Rome to see my wonderful Gabrielle (he of devoted Knight in Shining
Armour fame in “Letters”), who I hadn’t seen for ages, and it was just bliss to
see him again! How I’d missed him and
his beautiful mother Barbara. As always I was warmly greeted like one of the
family and then we chatted, catching up on news. Meanwhile Gabrielle was
thinking about where to take me for lunch.
“Have you been to Italy?” he asked suddenly.
I thought
he was joking. “Of course, I live here!”
He shook
his head. “It’s spelt E-A-T-A-L-Y”
“Oh. No, I haven’t”.
“Then we’ll
go there for lunch”.
Which we
did, and it was delicious. On leaving Eataly later I said to Gabrielle, “I have to bring
Vito here. He will LOVE it!”
I’m
probably the last person in Rome to have heard of Eataly, but I reckon some of
you “out there” haven’t heard of it yet, and so if you come to Rome, or are
nearby New York or Chicago, (or even in Japan), you may like to know of it.
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| Part of the outside of the EATALY building in Rome |
The Rome building reputed to be the company's largest
megastore, was opened in 2012 in a old abandoned air terminal building near
Ostiense. Vito commented a couple of days later when we went there together,
“I am so glad someone finally made good use of one of the “Cathedrals to Waste” as he
calls the various half built, unused, money wasted buildings that litter Italy. So they
have. The building is beautiful.
A vast,
modern streamlined four-storey building devoted to specialist Italian foods. Built of glass and chrome it is light, airy, spacious,
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| The entrance hall |
easy to move
around, and filled from floor to ceiling with delicious things.
I would be happy to stay there.
As in forever!
The entire
building is divided into sections; so you can find all cheeses
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| Cheese! |
in one place, or wander round looking at fresh pasta in another
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| Fresh pasta |
There are some corners where
they make the products
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| Making Mozzarella |
(here they are making mozzarella), and each part also has
its own restaurant. So for example you
can eat at the meat restaurant
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| The most tender and delicious hamburger EVER! Topped with grilled aubergine |
(where Gabrielle and I had lunch),
or spend hours looking at the sauces and different kinds of oils,
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| Sauces, preserves and oils |
fresh fish, fresh
meat, bread … you name it, or even just think of it,
 |
| Just one of the fresh fish counters |
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| Part of the wine hall |
and I reckon you
could probably find it. Vito and I agreed many of the prices are a
little on the steep side, but of course you are buying top-notch specialist foods
that you won’t be able to find in ordinary supermarkets, and the quality is of
the best here.
There is a very atmospheric coffee bar,
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| Coffee bar |
complete with a beautiful reproduction
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| Coffee machine |
of an old espresso maker which is beautiful.
On the top floor there is
there is a very swish restaurant, where they have Modigliani on display and where
you really
DO need a full wallet to buy lunch or dinner. Nearby is the cooking school, where cookery
classes are held. Also just
outside the top floor restaurant is an area where there is the table for the “10
Fortunati”, or “10 fortunates (people)”.
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| Table for the 10 "fortunati". You can see the ovens the top chefs will use in the background. Seats look a bit uncomfortable though! |
From September for a whole year, every month a world famous chef will
cook for 10 people who bid for a place at the table. Bidding will begin at 300 Euro per person,
and all the money raised will go to charity, which I think is an absolutely lovely idea,
and would love to join in but we'll have to wait until Vito wins the lottery .... or m
aybe in
another life L
