New York's Latest and Greatest Food Destination: Eataly

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All my friends could tell me before we arrived at Eataly was that I was going to love it, absolutely and completely love it.

I can understand why they had a hard time describing Eataly. It's an overwhelming and exhilarating wonderland of food-related experiences, as if someone had a vision for the best grocery shopping, dining, socializing, sampling, and tasting experience and put it together all under one roof: Eataly.  Those someones are restaurant and culinary magnates Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich, Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and founder of the existing Eataly market in Turin, Italy: Oscar Farinetti.

The store feels very much like an indoor European market or plaza, an agglomeration of restaurants, grocery stores, wine bars, and specialty vendors. Even the interior architecture is reminiscent of regal Italian buildings, with grand arches and opulent decor that reminds me of my visit to the Vatican.

On a Saturday at 4, Eataly was packed to the point that they had agents monitoring the number of people inside over walkie-talkies to ensure they wouldn't exceed capacity. There were literally crowds of people shopping for fine Italian spaghetti and sauces, browsing the array of sexy kitchen goods, mingling over proscuitto and cheese plates, sampling wines, and kids making the difficult decision of which gelato to choose.

If you haven't been there yet, you must see for yourself. Eataly occupies a city block in the Toy Building at 200 Fifth Ave between 23rd and 24th Street.

Here's an article about Eataly from the New York Post: http://www.nypost.com/p/lifestyle/food/welcome_to_eataly_G5QHOIVyNtzG44tyFb5GVM

And another from Eater.com that could not be more aptly called "Welcome to Eataly, a 50,000 Sq. Ft. Italian Culinary Funhouse" with pictures: http://ny.eater.com/archives/2010/08/first-look-at-culinary-funhouse-eataly.php

You can even get an Eataly iWhatever App with recipes, wine lists, and what's in season: http://www.newyork.eataly.it/index.php/eataly-iphone-app/

Barbecued Oysters on the Shore of Tomales Bay, CA

http://tomalesbayoysters.com

For my first post from my week in San Francisco, an anecdotal piece about my Sunday, spent on the shore of beautiful Tomales Bay barbecuing oysters. My boyfriend and I met with his roommates, their girlfriends, and a few other couples about an hour outside San Francisco at the Tomales Bay Oyster Company.

We got there early enough to get a picnic table right on the water's edge, with only a little typical Parks and Rec open-top grill impeding our view.

One veteran to the Tomales Oyster Bay Company among us put together a sauce of butter, olive oil, parsley, salt, and pepper in a pot over the coals. Essentially, combine, and let melt. Proportion to your dietary and flavor profile. 

We bought 50 small oysters from the small building up the hill from the picnic tables; while it is possible to buy M, L, and even XL (the size of a small plate), experienced oyster-diners said that the larger are less flavorful than the smaller ones. 

The key to opening oysters is to crack them at their hinge. At all other places on the seam, the shells are too thin and will flake rather than make a clean break. Here's the Tomales Bay Oyster Company directions for "How to shuck an oyster."

After a few test combinations and methods of flavoring, here's the best, simple oyster flavoring we could muster with the ingredients on hand. I think this is a good starting place for any oyster barbecue:

• One barbecued or raw oyster (these oysters are fresh and good enough to eat either way)
• One spoonful of the butter/parsley/olive oil/etc. sauce
• One generous squeeze of lemon juice
• A dash of hot sauce

Our neighbors a picnic table away prepared a salsa verde that they added a scoop of to each oyster. Kudos.

Many people are nervous about fishy-tasting oysters and pour out the water inside the shell. This is, in fact, incredibly flavorful-keep it! If you have fresh oysters, raw or barbecued, add the ingredients above, the fishyness will be in fact complemented by the other flavors.

A 10/10 rating for 10/10/10 (October 10th, 2010).