My wife and I were enjoying our 8 day vacation in Manhattan, New York all the while working through our long bucket list. This Italian multi restaurant / market on 3 floors was next on our to do list. We had heard great things about this world famous emporium from our kids who visited here over 10 years ago. On a very busy Tuesday for us we made it here for lunch around 2pm. Upon entering we saw 2 espresso bars, goods stacked on wall shelves either side and lots of customers.
After walking around most of the day we were really hungry and felt like Neapolitan wood-fired pizza so we headed further inside the huge building. We were now in the middle of a huge food court with a number restaurants offering different takes on Italian cuisine. We walked past a swank looking pasta bar . . IL PASTAIO DI EATALY and then a sit down restaurant beside it called LA PASTA and then saw the sign LA PIZZA. We fronted at the hostess desk of this sit down restaurant and the hostess told us the pizza oven was broken. BUMMER ! I explained that pizza at their lovely restaurant / market was on our bucket list and we had traveled a long way from California.
The hostess said it will be fixed by tomorrow. We left and headed over to IL PASTAIO DI EATALY the PASTA BAR..sat on a couple of bar stools and hoped things got better. A guy named Jesus ( maybe the manager ) behind the counter greeted us and I told him about their broken pizza oven and he responded . . YOU ARE MY CUSTOMERS NOW ! After showing our proof of full vaccination cards we were handed menus and I wanted a nice craft beer. I asked Jesus what he had in a hazy juicy IPA.
Before I knew it I was enjoying a SingleCut Beersmiths “Weird & Gilly” Hazy Juicy IPA in a beautiful stemmed beer glass. IT TASTED FABULOUS . . best beer so far in New York ! Some amazing complimentary fresh baked Artisan Bread was placed on the bar top in front of us . . so delicious and we were starving ! The lunch menu had some really neat items and my wife knew pretty quickly what tickled her fancy . . MALLOREDDUS ( Mutti Tomatoes, Sausage Ragu, Zerto Pecorino Romano ).
I chose CON FRUTTI DI MARE ( Handmade Scialatielli, San Marzano Tomatoes, Paradise Wild Shrimp, PEI Mussels, Saffron ). In the meantime my wife was going nuts over the scrumptious artisan bread and I was IN LOVE WITH MY CRAFT BEER ! We watched our lunch entrees prepared from scratch in the pristine kitchen right in front of us . . fresh hand made pasta..the lot. IT WAS A TREAT TO WATCH ! Our sensational looking meals arrived and tasted beyond our expectations
My wife was in raptures enjoying her Malloreddus…the sausage ragu and the incredible sauce blew her tastebuds ! My Con Frutti di Mare with succulent shrimp, juicy mussels and killer flavorsome sauce was up there with THE BEST PASTA DISH EVER ! We totally loved our lunch here. We paid our lunch bill but we weren’t finished yet. I grabbed a house made Focaccia Tonda Barese ( $9.90 ) from a display counter to take back to our hotel while my wife selected a vacuum sealed pack of Prosciutto.
My wife also bought 4 x Italian Chocolate Bars while I grabbed 1 x 4 pack of Weird & Gilly Hazy Juicy IPA. We then headed to the DESSERT COUNTER where we lusted over the many tempting creations before choosing 1 x TERRACOTTA for me and 1 x NINSOLA for my wife. We also ordered 2 x Cortados at the same counter and paid for everything we were taking with us. Our Cortados tasted fabulous and we loved our very decadent desserts. This place is like a CLASSY ITALIAN FOOD THEME PARK !
