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New Discoveries in a Familiar City
December 17th, 2010

Having grown up near Philadelphia (and now living there), New York City is not a new destination for me. Each time I go up, though, I discover something new – some because they actually have just  been unveiled and some because of I’ve simply never experienced them before.

I recently spent an overnight in mid-town Manhattan to do some shopping – as I do every year around the holidays – and since I love food so much, especially Italian food, I thought I’d share my two new experiences.

Eataly:   Started by Oscar Farinetti, Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich, and Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, Eataly is currently the “largest artisanal Italian food and wine marketplace in the world.”*  Eataly is definitely worth the experience. The fresh meats, fish, vegetables, cheese, and more will have you craving fresh from the oven Italian food in no time.  It’s appearance of a food court type set up, most of the seating is not open, and the space is divided up into food types – pasta and pizza, fish and vegetables, panninis, and more. There is a “cafe” with a few seats, but it gets full quickly. My tip: go at an off-peak time. Trying to get seating around lunch time will most likely leave you disappointed. It’s reputation and unusual style keep it quite busy, and despite it’s size, there aren’t a vast amounts of seating. In fact, I wasn’t able to sample the delicious-looking food, given the 30-minute plus wait for a table and our growling stomachs. I will absolutely be planning a trip back though the next time I am in New York, with the hopes of indulging my Italian cravings on that visit.

La Masseria: I’m Sicilian, I’ve been to Italy four times, and I’ve kind of become an Italian food “snob”.  As a vegetarian, I tend to judge an Italian restaurant by it’s gnocchi – not only is it one of my favorites, but it can be done really well or really poorly and the quality tends to match that of the restaurant overall. Las Masseria was absolutely packed on a Wednesday evening. It has the ideal ambiance of bustling, but not obnoxiously loud. It’s not a huge restaurant, but not four tables like you’ll find at some BYOB’s in my home town of Philadelphia. Our food came out surprisingly quick, which to me is generally not a good sign (i.e. pre-made). I expected to be rushed through, given the speed of our service. I was proven wrong (I’ll admit it!). The food – I ordered the gnocchi of course – was fresh, clearly made by hand, perfectly flavorful. The wine list was a good size without being overwhelming and decently priced. We stayed and chatted over our meal for more than two hours without feeling rushed at all by the wait staff. Everyone was friendly, helpful and if I had to guess, I’d say first generation Italian-American which always makes the experience seem more authentic. I highly recommend La Masseria. Definitely make a reservation, and I suggest a slightly later time so that you don’t battle the theatre crowd.

*Source: http://www.mariobatali.com/restaurants_eataly.cfm