Eataly is Italy...

     This past month I had the opportunity to try "Eataly".  For those who don't know, Eataly is a 40,000 square foot Italian Market in the heart of Downtown Manhattan.  The place is absolutely filled to the brim with fresh pastas, vegetables, breads, meats, seafood and snacks.  It has 2 restaurants, a full Salumi bar and multiple snack bars.  It is the brainchild of Mario Battali & Joe and Lidia Bastianich and for a foodie like me it was absolute Nirvana : )  Had I brought a cooler with me to the city it would have been filled to the brim with anything and everything I could carry.  However, since I forgot my cooler that day I had to make do with whatever I could eat.  And eat I did. 
     After waiting about 45 minutes for a table at the restaurant section (the wait was made better by all of the amazing sights and smells contained in this building) we received a primo seat right in front of the kitchen where we got to witness the magic happen.  Our appetizer was a slab of fresh buffalo mozzarella, drizzled with olive oil served with a pile of fresh sea salt. Verdict: Delicious!  If it had been served with fresh tomatoes, I could have made my entire meal on that alone!

     As my main meal I decided on a Calzone filled with ricotta, mozzarella, prosciutto and fresh tomatoes.  My mom decided on the Pizza Margerita and my dad had a fresh pasta with a wild boar ragu.  Verdict on all the dishes: Unbelievable!    I could have eaten my calzone every day for the rest of my life and been entirely content (if not entirely fat!)  The crust on the pizza and calzone had to have been made fresh that day and coal fired in a blazing oven.  And everything put togethter made the meal absolutely delicious!

     Eataly to me is one of the coolest places I've ever been.  It could have been that I was extremely hungry or just really cold but when I entered I was just very happy.  Since then I've been recommending it to anyone I talk to!  So please, if you are in the NYC area anytime soon, be sure to stop by, it's sure to be an experience you won't soon forget!

Produce Department



Bakery

I don't even like Fish but I thought this was cool : )

Just a portion of all the pasta they had.

Fresh Seafood: I don't even think I can name some of the things in this picture!

I just thought this was a really cute sign : )

Thanks Mario for a great experience and a meal I won't soon forget!

Eataly NYC

200 5th Avenue

NY, NY 10010

I've been a very bad blogger...

     With everything going on in the last month (Thanksgiving, Christmas shopping, Christmas wrapping, Christmas crafting: Are you beginning to see a pattern here?) I haven't updated the blog in more than a month.  Yes I know that my plan was to do a scary thing per week, however it has gotten lost in the Christmas craziness.  There have been a few new things that have happened in the last month, but not nearly as many as I had hoped.

1.  On an amazing weekend trip to NYC (I hope to have pics up this week and a review of the yummiest place in the City: Eataly) I tried anchovies.  Overall, I wouldn't recommend them. Same issues I had with the Sushi: too salty and just too fishy. (I have quite a knack for pointing out the obvious...)
2. I finished "The Importance of Being Earnest" and quite liked it.  I'd love to see it live but haven't heard of any productions around.  Although, much to the chagrin of Jen, I've yet to start "A Thousand Splendid Suns".  Maybe in the New Year...
3. I've applied to about a million jobs and interviewed once.  However, since I was actually comfortable enough to make a joke in the interview (quite an accomplishment for someone who is usually shaking in her boots at interviews) we are marking this as a win!

     So that about sums up the list.  Like I said nothing to write home about or in this case, nothing to write a blog about : )  However the list of things I have been able to accomplish in the last month is pretty long. Mostly boring things, but I enjoyed them nonetheless.  (Except wrapping presents, I HATE wrapping presents!)

    What I have found is that doing scary things every week, is not as easy as it sounds.  For one thing, scary things that I want to do are EXPENSIVE.  Not a good thing when you haven't won the lottery.  Second, my friends haven't exactly jumped on the "Scary Thing" bandwagon.  Not so fun when you're doing it by yourself.  So while I'm still hoping to make this blog about doing new and adventurous things, I hope to add some more boring parts of my life into it in the coming year. After Christmas, I hope to jump back on the fun train and discover more new and exciting things to try!