Serious Eats: New York
Eataly Report: Salumi e Formaggi
Editor's note: Yes, we've been yapping a lot about Eataly, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich's Italian food mega-emporium, which Adam referred to as "the Italian aisle of your supermarket, on PCP." But there's a lot to say—and trust us, it's more fun to read about Eataly from the comfort of your desk chair than it is to fight through the opening week crowds.
[Photo: Christine Tsai]
Ah, cured meats and cheeses—exactly why I'd want an Italian specialty store in my neighborhood. While Eataly stocks all the heavy hitters, prosciutto and Parmigiano Reggiano and all the rest of it, they don't, perhaps surprisingly, fetishize Italian ingredients as such. Across the store, the offerings are split between imported and domestic; milk for the mozzarella from upstate, eggplant and peaches from New York and New Jersey. It's very much in the Italian tradition, really, to sell high-quality local products.
But you can't get prosciutto di Parma from anywhere other than, well, Parma—and some of the imported meats and cheeses are worth whatever markups they're given. A few taste-tests, after the jump.
Cheeses
[Photos: Maggie Hoffman]
We asked for a soft goat cheese at the counter, and were pointed to the Brunet—a slighty funky, very spreadable Piemontese round that paired beautifully with the Sauvignon Blancs we drank alongside it. The cheese retailed for $15.80 for a round, a bit cheaper than it goes for at Murray's Cheese downtown.
Eataly makes their own Mozzarella ($12.14/lb, a good-sized ball for $3.80) each morning, and while it's not the silkiest, or milkiest, you've ever had, it's a fine fresh specimen for a fair price—perfect for a weeknight Caprese salad while the summer tomatoes last.
And while with this NY-fresh mozzarella in hand, I did pause for a moment before buying a similar product from 4,000 miles away, the Stracciatella "di Burrata" (250g, around $8) was one of the greatest pleasures I've introduced my mouth to in a good long time. Stracciatella are the short, thin strings that mozzarella separates into, when pulled; they're mixed with additional cream as the soft filling of burrata. Here? You just get the cream-soaked strands, some stringy, some curd-y and ricotta-like—all absolutely sublime when mounded onto bread or just eaten with a spoon. I don't know what they're feeding these Puglian cows, but I've never had a cream sweeter. It's almost floral; it brings to mind bloom-dotted pastures and cattle grazing on honeysuckle. It's cheese you find yourself talking about days later.
Meats
While you can purchase meats sliced to order at the counter, you can also skip the line and grab pre-packed selections from the refrigerated cases. The grilled Ham with Rosemary ($19.80/lb) above didn't seem to suffer from pre-slicing at all; the tender petals of improbably sweet ham, laced with rosemary and garlic, couldn't have tasted fresher. Layered thinly on crusty bread, this would make one fine sandwich.
We first fell in love with Mole Salami ($31/lb), made by Mario's father Armandino Batali at his Seattle shop Salumi, when SE'er Leslie Kelly brought us a package in her carry-on. As the fat melts on your tongue, it brings with it faint notes of chocolate and cinnamon—before the lingering heat of ancho and chipotle. It's delicious, it's memorable, and though pricey, we promise it's worth every penny.
The Verdict?
Sure, there are prices at Eataly that will raise your eyebrows—along with a surprising number that won't. Premium products command a premium price, but for the most part, the prices here are ones that we'd be happy to pay.
Well, except for the sandwiches. But we'll get to those tomorrow.