With a flurry of press coverage, Eataly Boston, the Italian food emporium helmed by New York celebrity chef/restaurateurs Mario Batali and Joe and Lidia Bastianich, opened its doors in the city’s Prudential Center in December of 2016. Maybe you visited the first U.S. Eataly in New York, when it opened in 2010. Or in Chicago in 2013. Or in Rome, Tokyo, Dubai, Istanbul, Monaco, or the original store in Turin, which opened in 2007. For lovers of Italian food, this food emporium has become a global juggernaut in less than ten years.
Just inside Eataly’s Boston entrance, a sign hints at the bounty of food inside. Photo Credit : Amy Traverso
A VISIT TO EATALY BOSTON
So what is Eataly Boston? A 45,000-square foot market with sit-down and take-out restaurants sprinkled throughout, it can be whatever you want: a dinner destination, a place to grab a sandwich or a gelato, or a highly functional grocery store supplying both Italian and locally-made staples and gourmet items. In fact, I was happy to see many New England-made products we’ve featured in our Editor’s Choice Food Awards over the years.
Romesco and other fancy cauliflowers from the Verdure department. Photo Credit : Amy TraversoDomestic and imported cheeses at every price point. Photo Credit : Amy TraversoA full butcher counter. Photo Credit : Amy TraversoThe focaccia bar. Photo Credit : Amy Traverso
The diversity of products at Eataly Boston is dizzying: I found one shelf dedicated entirely to sauces, antipasti, and vinegars from Ponti, a Piemontese company headquartered a short distance from where my own great-grandparents were born (I filled up a basket right there). There are aisles of pasta and sauces, and olive oils organized by region–Liguria, Toscana, Abruzzo, Lazio, Marche, Umbria, Puglia, Calabria, Campagnia, Sicilia and Sardegna. Geographical names are usually left in the original Italian here, but the fully American staff are ready to help.
A small corner of the Eataly pasta section. Photo Credit : Amy Traverso
Then there are the restaurants: Il Pesce, a seafood-centric eatery curated by Boston’s own Barbara Lynch, a pizza and pasta spot, a central plaza where diners can enjoy salumi, salads, oysters, and other snacks (it’s called, fittingly, La Piazza), and a sit-down restaurant called Terra. Sprinkled throughout, you’ll find assorted vendors, including two cafes, a cannoli cart, a crepe counter, mozzarella-making station, a sandwich stand, and a gelato bar. Oh, and there’s a cooking school with ticketed hands-on workshops and free tastings. Overwhelmed yet?
La Piazza, the eatery at the heart of the market Photo Credit : Amy Traverso
It is overwhelming, but it’s also tremendously fun to simply wander and take it all in. I heard a lot of “wows” and “Oh my Gods,” as crowds of downtown workers and tourists filled the aisles on the first full day of operation.
Fine desserts at the pasticceria. Photo Credit : Amy Traverso
I also heard a lot of Italian. Nothing can replace the charm of the North End’s small markets and butchers, but there were plenty of picky nonnas sussing out the quality of the meat and cheese.
Two choosy Italian cooks at the new Eataly Boston. Photo Credit : Amy Traverso
For all the excitement, the opening of Eataly Boston wasn’t been without controversy. Some fear it will pull business away from the year-old Boston Public Market, which was 14 years in the making and is dedicated to selling only products grown or made in New England.
I’d like to think that Boston is, at this point, a serious-enough food town to support both markets, just as New York sustains its Greenmarkets and emporiums. Sure, our fair city is much smaller, but these two markets are in distinctly different neighborhoods and fully accessibly by subway (though validated parking makes driving in surprisingly affordable). As for the North End, people go there for more than the cannoli. Eataly can’t replicate the salt-air smell or the old men feeding pigeons in the Paul Revere mall.
If you don’t like lines, you’ll want to plan your visit around peak mealtime hours.
Artfully arranged veggies ready for home cooking at Eataly. Photo Credit : Amy Traverso
In press interviews, Mario Batali described Eataly as a long-term investment, something he hopes to weave into the fabric of Boston’s culinary scene. The emphasis on local goods and seafood will help, as will a well-traveled populace that happens to know and love great Italian cooking. My own visit left me inspired to head home and make a four-course Italian feast, a combination of prepared and from-scratch items that felt like a mid-week celebration.
Eataly Boston. Prudential Center, 800 Boylston St., Boston. 617-807-7300; eataly.comThis post was first published in 2016 and has been updated.
Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee magazine and co-host of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, a coproduction with WGBH. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Saveur, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on Hallmark Home & Family, The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Amy is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category.
