Eataly

I FINALLY got to go to Grimaldi’s. I don’t know what took me so long, but Tom and I had gone to Amorino (on Vanderbilt) for dinner on Saturday night and I satiated my lust and craving for anchovies (Tom hates them and opted for the white pizza special with onions, ricotta, sausage and basil). Mine was super salty with the fish, capers and olives. His eggplant caponata was nothing special so I won’t even bother discussing it. Apparently this little pizzeria is Zagat rated and he said if I liked this crust (thin, a little chewy) then I’d really love Grimaldi’s, so we finally made a date to go yesterday (Sunday). I also wanted to bring him to Eataly which I will talk about in a bit.
We got to Grimaldi’s in the dreary cloudy weather and of course there was a long line outside. This pizza better be good. They are very efficient in getting people in and out so we didn’t have to wait longer than half an hour but it is very cramped. We had this Asian guy behind us who kept trying to get Tom to tell the guy we were together with his wife/gf in case they called a table of 4. Turns out they were seated next to us anyway as he pointed out… For future reference: Please don’t talk to me when I’m about to eat and don’t appear too clingy.

We ordered a large margherita with half ricotta and Italian sausage. Delicioso! We actually managed to eat the entire pie between the two of us. I can now check off this NYC institution off my list with rave remarks.

After we paid the bill, we trekked off to Eataly in Chelsea. If you love Italian food, this market brought to NYC by Mario Batalli is the gastronomical paradise you’ve always dreamed of. It is very reminiscent of the indoor Italian markets in Italy which is where Batalli got the idea from. However, it is a complete zoo inside. I thought it was going to be more like Chelsea Market where it has one long corridor spanning across one block with various restaurants and shops along it. Eataly is just one massive maze of gelato, pastries, espresso, artisanal breads, chocolates, restaurants, cured meats, cheeses, seafood, pasta, paninis, and beverages; also kind of like Harrod’s of London if you’ve ever been. But it’s kind of great seeing people walk around with their European-inspired basket-shopping carts and a glass of wine in hand. The restaurants are literally in the middle of aisles and there are seating areas all over the place; really neat atmosphere. We ended up getting a tiramisu and a gelato to share. Both hitting the spot, but what I really had my eye on was the pastas, meats and cheeses. Unfortunately the crowd was a turn-off as was the long line to purchase items so we walked away empty-handed. I will have to give it another try during the week when it hopefully won’t be as busy.