Eataly L.A.

The long awaited Eataly L.A. is finally here at the Westfield Century City Mall on Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles. The original Eataly was founded by Oscar Farinetti from Turin. Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich and her son Joe are partners and collaborators. New York, Boston and Chicago have been the lucky cities to have their very own Eataly. They opened last weekend and though we stayed away, I heard that there were thousands of people in the mall waiting to experience Eataly.

Last Friday, Ramon, Milena and Gary announced that they would be going and asked us if we wanted to meet them at 11:00 a.m. It was a Friday so we thought it was a good day since most people would be at work. Sujata, Mertz, Sandi and I got there at 10:30 a.m. We went up the escalator and walked through a large glass door. We were in awe of what was inside. It was a market, restaurants, cafes, counters, Italian goods for sale, tables and chairs and lots of people. We first secured several tables as we sat waiting for our friends. My brother Gary called and told us to fall in line at the Pasta and Pizza place. The line was comparable to the line to see the Sistine Chapel. We all did not want to stand for that length of time. When everyone arrived, we all agreed to eat wherever we wanted. Mertz, Sandi and Sujata decided to get Panini since the line was not too long. Ramon, Gary, Milena and I lined up at Il Pesce Cucina which had a short line. I was excited because I knew Chef Michael Cimarusti is none other than the Chef at Providence, one of my favorite restaurants.

Gary and I ordered the Calamata; calamari shaped pasta, squid, chili flake, parsley as well as the Spaghettoni Aglio & Olio; extra virgin olive oil, chili, garlic, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Italian parsley. Both were good but we especially enjoyed the Spaghettoni. I have to mention our server, Shane, warned us that the pasta would be served really aldente. Of course that was music to my ears. Milena and Ramon had the panini, Tonno Bianco; Oregon Albacore, fennel pollen, lemon, red onion, iceberg, pickled red peppers and the Pesce Sammy panini; Ling cod, lettuce, Calabrian chili aioli. They said their panini were just o.k. The Chili potato chips were outstanding though.

After we had all eaten, we made a quick survey of what exciting things were for sale. They had mozzarella, big wheels of cheeses, Italian chocolates, all kinds of olive oils, and panettone but not just your regular panettone. They had pear and chocolate, moscato wine and peach chocolate panettone.  We all decided to have some gelato which was downstairs on the lower level of Eataly. Instead of taking the stairs, we went outside to take the escalator. We were shocked to see a long line to get in the entrance to Eataly. We told the guards we just wanted to have some gelato and that we were already in and had just left. No can do.....once you leave you have to fall in line to get in. The line was unbelievably long. There must have been at least 500 people waiting.

One word comes to mind when I think of Eataly: chaos. Mertz corrected me in saying that at least it is "organized chaos". We later figured out that last Friday was the Veteran's Day weekend. My brother Gary has been there several times already and he suggested going in the late afternoon on a weekday. We will be going back to Eataly for sure but it won't be anytime soon especially not on a weekend or a holiday.