Eataly-Chicago

There are 26 Eataly stores worldwide.  Ten are in Italy, 13 in Japan.  New York, Chicago, Dubai and Turkey are homes to the others.  Chris and I went to the Chicago location for the first time on Friday.

I had heard some things about it before going...expensive was the overwhelming theme.  I tried to keep an open mind.  I love to cook, I love to eat, I don't like to be ripped off.  One thing I can say immediately, if you think Pizza Hut is gourmet, don't waste your time, money and energy making trip.  You need to be a foodie to appreciate all that is Eataly.

The store is beautiful; bright, airy with plenty of good smells and sights.  The produce department is right inside the door.  Keep in mind it was February 28th when we visited, and we're in Chicago.  The produce department looked like it was at the height of growing season.  The colors were amazing and the primary smell was earthy, farmer's market-ish.  Those who read this who know me personally know the scent I am describing when I say "farmer's market-ish".  For those who live near me, the Oak Park farmer's market starts on May 17th, anyone want to bet on whether or not there will still be big snow piles around??

There is a section for fresh herbs, and a section of beautiful fresh mushrooms.  Some of the fruits and veggies were so beautiful, they didn't look real.

Upstairs there is a butcher counter that has beautiful cuts of meat (be prepared to sell a limb if you're planning to buy a lot!).  I listened to the butcher talking to a customer about cooking filets while deftly wrapping the purchase in butcher paper.  There were pork chops as big as my head and different kinds of sausages; again everything was fresh and beautiful.  Chris and I bought a package of ground meat; a mixture of beef, pork and veal for a bolognese I will mention later.

The fish section was also beautiful and I am not a huge fan of fish.  Everything in that area smelled clean, there is not a fishy smell in the house!  The separate tank for live lobsters woke memories from when I was a child at the grocery store.

Now, the wine section...if you are a sommelier, you will be in your glory if your specialty is Italian wines.  I buy wines based on interesting labels and then repeat buy if the taste matches the label. You will need to sell another limb if you're going to increase your wine collection.  We bought a red; I will report back once we've enjoyed it.  We also picked up some lemoncello...yum!

The cheese section requires a lengthy amount of time...there are so many different kinds...some I have never heard of.  I LOVE cheese, this area and the rest of the crudite section was amazing!  We picked up some fresh mozzarella and some prosciutto.

Now let's talk about the brick wood burning oven where fresh bread is baked constantly.  I want one of those ovens in my kitchen.  This was separate from the beautifully decorated and also wood burning pizza ovens.

Now we didn't not check out the gelato bar too closely, I will go back just for that at some point.  But we did investigate the dessert counter...the attention to detail in these cases is just gorgeous.  The handmade pastries are beyond description and honestly my photos don't do them justice.  GO if for not other reason than to smaple from the pastry counter!

Oh, yes and they also make 3 different kinds of cannolis.  What are those flavors you ask??  You're going to have to go and see for yourself!

This was my choice of dessert.

Salted peanut tiramisu--enough liquor in that little cup to blow you away!

So that was our trip to Eataly...I'll go back.  I got lots of ideas there but we're so lucky here in the Chicago area that I don't have to go there for my pasta, sauces and produce.  I have many other, less expensive choices for purchases.

I mentioned earlier that I made a bolognese with meat from Eataly.  If you search bolognese on the blog, you will come across an entry for instant potato gnocchi and bolognese.  That is the recipe I used.  It has a ton of ingredients but the finished product is amazing!