Westchester Eats

The unstoppable team of Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich and his mother, Lidia, in collaboration with original Eataly (Torino, Italy) founder Oscar Farinetti have really done it this time. They have created an Italian mecca consisting of 50,000 square feet of all things Italian.

Eataly is located at 200 Fifth Ave., between 23rd and 24th Streets which used to contain the Toy Building. The space is enormous.

Not only eating will happen here among its several restaurants, including a reservation-only aged steak house referred to as Manzo, but housewares, a scuola, where Lidia is the Dean of Studies, and so much more. Fresh pastas are made daily on-site, along with a market consisting of Italian sweets, honeys, jams, produce (locally grown), and olive oils, and even housewares. There are mini-shops within, including a gelateria, a wine shop carrying only Italian wines including many made by the Bastianich family’s estates in Tuscany and Friuli. All things Italian.

In the mood to cook but running short on time? Grab the very diverse and fresh local produce inside Eataly, and make your way to the Vegetable Butcher where she will clean, trim, and chop your ingredients as needed for your dish. Oh… At no extra charge.

Speaking of charges, the buzz among first day customers was that the pricing does not seem to be higher than any other regular shopping venue in NY including places like Whole Foods, etc. Also, many were tickled to see that employees were all running around in the trademark orange Crocs always worn by Mario.

(final photo story at end of article)

On the website, Eataly proclaims its foundations and extrapolates on each of them. They say:

• WE’RE IN LOVE WITH FOOD
• FOOD UNITES US ALL
• OUR PASSION HAS BECOME OUR JOB
• THE SECRET TO QUALITY OF LIFE? QUALITY PRODUCTS
• OUR TARGET AUDIENCE IS EVERYONE
• EAT. SHOP. LEARN.
• YOU ARE OUR CO-PRODUCERS
• OUR THREE PROMISES TO YOU (Choice, Accessibility of best products at lowest prices, and Knowledge of what is sold)
• YOUR TRUST IS EARNED EVERY DAY

Yesterday’s opening was heralded by Mario, Joe, Lidia and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg who cut the pasta ribbon after a blessing given by Archbishop Dolan.

Comments heard were, “Amazing”, “Over-the-top!”, and “Outstanding”.

A source informed me this morning that early-on, a line had formed waiting for the doors to open in order to assault the espresso counters so that New Yorkers could get their daily espresso fix. It appears that while inside Eataly, no matter the ethnic background, each of us is an Italian.

Just the day before... still getting ready

Crowds waiting for the doors to finally open

Every so many feet, another espresso opportunity!

Yes, there is a gelateria to help us keep up our strength

Lidia herself positioned at one entrance to greet new patrons

Espresso doppio?

Fresh pasta made daily

Fishmongers at the ready

A light Oyster snack in the "raw bar" area called "Il Crudo"

Hand crafted soups and brodos

Mario among the masses

Roasted Corn Bruschetta

Joe Bastianich contemplating the flow of operations

Pesto Lasagne with toasted pignolli

Stuffed Piquillo Peppers

The wood burning oven that turns out delicious pani (breads)!

Photo source: Nicholas Schwartz

Two women have collaborated to create a business called Chew On This.

Carlin Greenstein and Annie Stranger, a chef and a graphic designer, are passionate about educating others about the overall benefits of eating locally.

Their organization is dedicated to promoting the purchasing and eating of locally sourced products.  To that end, they have created a couple of very exciting tools. Upon seeing them, you may want to keep a set in the car and another in the kitchen.

Both tools are “wheels” which provide us with our inspiration of what we can expect to find in the marketplace  – driving our daily cooking. They are also an affordable resource priced at $11 each (plus tax and shipping) or  a package deal, $20 for both (plus tax and shipping).

The first wheel is called “A Year of Locally Grown Fruits and Vegetables.”  It lists locally grown vegetables and fruits.  Then, the wheel indicates, by month and week, when we can expect to see them in the markets.

Next, is the “Illustrated Guide to Forty Culinary Herbs.“  The focus of this product is to showcase herb pairings in addition to how to store them for future use once purchased. This tool provides information on the washing, handling/preparing, and storage of herbs. Also, a few herb recipes are included.

Unique tools which provides us with the ability to plan our cooking/preserving schedules.

The wheels, by the way, are printed using vegetable-based biodegradable inks. They are substantial in size and beautiful in the hand. Certainly one can see the marriage here between chef and artist.

In addition to the food wheels, the site is very “clean” and inspirational. There is a “Local Food Map” allowing consumers to locate restaurants, shops and markets which feature locally grown produce. The site also has numerous links with resources catering to the local / sustainable crowd.

What’s next ladies? An App for our Smart Phones? Keep it coming!

Sitting on the kitchen countertop, is this “thing” that makes people ask, “What does that do!?”

I just respond, “It makes seltzer, silly!”

Gone now are the days of searching the isles of my food stores looking for seltzer (always “original”, never flavored!) Only to find that the original is gone and I’m left with “lime (artificial) flavored sparkling water”.  Not good.

Then I found SodaClub.

I prefer to filter my water in a Brita then I pour it into my SodaClub bottles and with a couple presses of the button with a silly duck “honking” sound, I have seltzer.  Also, the pressure and bubbles ratio of sparkly to water is higher than what you get in the store.  This product is fantastic.

Seltzer at home!

No more shlepping bottles from the grocery store, no more wasting/recycling bottles, and much less expensive!

I don’t do this, but if you want flavored seltzer, the company does sell many flavorings such as lemon-lime, cola, etc.

Each cannister will produce about 100 bottles of seltzer. I have four cannisters in-house and keep them rotating.  Once a couple of them need replacing, I make a phone call, leave them on the porch in a bag, and they get swapped out for new ones.  Very strange.  A person actually drives to you and does the swap-out (you don’t need to be home)… I am just very used to the UPS/FedEx thing, that this is very old-world to me.

The devices start just below $100 and can go higher depending on the model.  The “Penguin” as they call it is adorable and worth the extra “design money.”
To find SodaClub, you can order from them at SodaClub; in addition, they are available at Amazon and Williams-Sonoma.

Thought you’d enjoy hearing about this cool, fun, cost-saving equipment for the kitchen.

At a recent 50+ bottle tasting, I continued to be intrigued about a little device that I’ve used for a few years which gives a hint to the future of a particular wine.  Exploring a wine and wondering when it will be at its peak is difficult.

Alchemy at its best!

Then came the Clef du Vin.  This magical little device when dipped into wine mimics how a wine will develop over time.  Tasting the wine and realizing it seemed very young… One dip of the Clef into the glass, for one second, then a taste – - rounder and smoother finish, softer tannins. According to the white papers, it doesn’t actually age the wine but the alloy provides the essence of aging.

Even my most skeptical wine friends were blown away once they tried it.  I am always amazed.  For me, it was $99 well spent – - thought you might like to know about it.

I purchased mine locally at Wine Enthusiast in Elmsford, but have seen it on many websites, too.