Eataly, New York, New York

Recently, I took a trip to New York City.  While I really wanted to eat my way through the city, I'm a petite gal and I can only pack away so much food.  It's just a shame because there is so much good food in the City.  But, things are what they are and if I wanted to appreciate all of the good food planned for my day, I needed to take some breaks between bites.  On the suggestion of a good friend and fellow foodie, I scheduled some "food wanderings" in between dining venues.  On the advice of my good friend, I wandered my way from the Doughnut Plant (review to come soon) in the direction of Eataly, an Italian food and dining venue right in the Flatiron District in Midtown Manhattan.  This was the perfect spot for a respite between doughnuts and British gastropub fare.  And a great spot to pick up Italian imported arabica coffee beans for my Sicilian husband and European chocolates for my two kids.  Situated on famous Fifth Avenue, near the corner at 23rd Street, this upscale food market has everything one would need to satisfy an Italian food craving:  plump ripe vegetables and fruits, house made pasta, olives and oils, fresh baked bread, chocolates, coffee, salumi and other cured meats, hard and soft cheeses, Italian sweets and more.  And if you are an out of towner like me, unable to fill up on those perishable goods that won't survive the flight home, you can partake at eleven different cafes and restaurants for big or small bites, whatever your pleasure, all in the midst of this bustling market.  I had only thirty minutes to take it all in before heading to lunch at the Spotted Pig, but it was thirty minutes very well spent.  But don't think that Eataly is a place you can or should just quickly cruise through.  There is so much here to see and enjoy and a half hour is definitely not enough to completely appreciate all that this upscale Italian market has to offer.  It's too bad I didn't have more time.  I'm definitely going to allocate a couple of hours to this amazing marketplace the next time I have a chance to visit the Big Apple.  For now, I'm just going to have to enjoy these pics.  Hope you do too!

Cheese, cheese and more cheese!

Fresh fruit and veggies, good enough to eat right off the cart

They had me a prosciutto

Making the pasta ....

and baking the bread.