Mangi!

By now most American’s are familiar with Eataly– Italian’s have been privy since 2003 when it was founded by Oscar Farinetti in Turin- but until now, only New Yorkers could roam inside celebrity chef Mario Batali’s renowned stateside food emporium since making a huge splash in 2010. Now the Italian superstore has a second US location in Chicago, where midwestern food enthusiasts were apparently so starved for a European high-quality food and drink market- with over 10,000 products on sale- it ran out of food after 120,000 people visited during the first week and had to close for one day to replenish its goods inside the carb-loving paradise.

Batali, along with partners Farinetti, Joe and Lidia Bastianich, and Adam and Alex Saper have had great success in New York- with nearly $70 million in sales in its first year- and Chicago seems to be following suit. The slightly larger and more spacious 62,000 square feet outpost covers two floors, encompassing 23 eateries, 7 restaurants, two cafes, a brew pub, a mozzarella lab, a cooking school where Lidia Bastianich is dean, one of a kind private dining, and oh yeah…a Nutella bar. It may have been pure chaos to score a Nutella crepe, but apparently people seemed to be more patient outside, having waited in long lines that extended two blocks on a frigid opening day three weeks ago just to get inside the land of magic and pasta. I can attest, I brave the crowds whenever I’m in New York and as much as I’m thrilled for my Chicago friends, I have to say I’m a bit miffed they got Eataly before us Angelenos. But we do have our Pizzeria Mozza. Thanks Mario. www.eataly.com