Eataly World Media Reaction Round-Up

Eataly opened yesterday in New York City, and all of food media was there to fuss and coo and generally freak out over the gigantic supermarket/restaurant/beer garden/Italian gastronomic wonderland. We're no innocents — we came, we saw, we liveblogged — but we were only one of many who churned out thousands of breathless words and hundreds of adoring pictures over the past few days. Warning: media frenzy ahead.

· Esquire/Josh Ozersky:

Everything I needed for human happiness could be found here, with the exception of perverted sex, and after eating all this food I wouldn't be in much shape for that either.

· Gothamist/Jaya Saxena:

This is not the Italy most Americans imagine—the Italy of quaint Tuscan towns and pushy grandmothers. This is the Italy of Vespas and stilettos.

The rollout of Eataly in a soaring 42,500 square foot mostly marbled space just steps from Shake Shack has rivaled a Harry Potter book release.

It is clear that Batali & co. spared no expense to ensure that Eataly's offerings set the bar for Italian food and products to a new level...50,000 square feet meticulously engineered and curated to smother us with pleasure.

If Eataly delivers on a strong value proposition in everything it serves, the sky really is the limit for it. It will be fascinating to watch the drama unfold.

[Eataly] had been anticipated for months as more or less the food world's version of the Rapture, or at least the biggest Italian food court in history.

It is an unlikely blend of food bazaar, farm stand, educational centre, museum, eclectic dining experience and political and environmental movement - though one anchored firmly in the world of commerce.

What happens when three of New York’s most beloved Italian-American restaurateurs team up with the founder of a gourmet food and wine market in Turin, Italy? The result is the grand, ambitious, sprawling Eataly.

Videos:
· Feast has video interviews with Mario Batali and Lydia Bastianich.
· Zagat has Day One Madness.

Twitter:
· @lock: "Do be prompt; this place will be insta-smash-hit."
· @ruthbourdain: "You've heard of EATALY, but also opening is FEETALY, my food market concept dedicated to all things feet: duck feet, trotters, toe jam, etc."

· All Eataly coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All Mario Batali coverage on Eater [-E-]