Glorious Grocery: at Eataly Toronto

@Eataly, Toronto

A week after Eataly opened, we trekked to Yorkville for some Italian dining and shopping.  The 50,000 sqft location did not only feature quality Italian products along with goodies from local producers, it also has 3 full service restaurants (with a Trattoria coming in 2020), café, brewery, cooking school, and food counters (meals to go, pizza, cannoli and gelato stations, pastries and coffee).

La Pescheria restaurant  @Eataly, Toronto

wine bar @Eataly, Toronto

cooking school @Eataly, Toronto

Caffe Vergnano@Eataly, Toronto

We arrived to line up (as they don’t take reservations yet) at La Pizza & La Pasta for an early lunch. They served some delicious bread with olive oil while we waited for our order.

at La Pizza & La Pasta, @Eataly, Toronto

We had a family style sharing. We started with Gran Tagliere which is the Chef’s Selection of Italian cured meats and cheese. Delicious!

Gran Tagliere @Eataly, Toronto

Then we got some Pizza Napolitana (Neapolitan). We ordered the Capricciosa which had San Marzano tomato sauce, Buffalo Mozzarella, mushroom, Gaeta black olive, Rovagnati Gran biscotto ham, and artichoke. It had a wonderful thin crust at the base and the dough airily puffed up around the sides.

Capricciosa pizza napolitana @Eataly, Toronto

We tried both types of pasta--secca (dried) and fresca (fresh). We got a Spaghetto al Pomodoro for the dried, which was cooked al dente. The hand-made Afeltra Spaghetti was tossed with Così Com’è Datterino Tomatoes, EVOO, and basil. We added Mozzarella di Bufala, of course.

Pomodoro e Bolognese @Eataly, Toronto

For the fresh pasta, we got the Tagliatelle alla Bolognese, which is a thin, ribbon-shaped, housemade pasta with beef and pork ragù, Mutti tomato and Parmigiano Reggiano DOP (certified origin).

The portions were not big enough for sharing, and while our server recommended family-style, the serving per dish was just right for one person. The family agreed that while the dishes were good, we have had better pizza and pasta. Service was polite and surprisingly not slow despite the full house.

We did save space as we were eyeing the cakes and pastries outside. After lunch, we went to get coffee and Tiramisu Classico at Caffé Vergnano. It was one of the best Tiramisu we have had in a long time, and in Canada. It was divine. The coffee was also superb. 

Tiramisu Classico @Eataly, Toronto

Unfortunately, we were all too full to try the gelato and cannoli.

Gelato @Eataly, Toronto

Cannoli station @Eataly, Toronto

We walked around to check out the wonderful products being freshly prepared. They had a mozzarella lab where you can see them make fresh mozzarella. You can also watch them prepare fresh pasta, bread and even gelato! The hazelnut spread fountain was not working so we just got some bottled Venchi to enjoy at home.

fresh pasta @Eataly, Toronto

Mozzarella bar @Eataly, Toronto

bakery for freshly baked bread @Eataly, Toronto

pizza counter @Eataly, Toronto

seafood @Eataly, Toronto

all sorts of cheese @Eataly, Toronto

deli @Eataly, Toronto

glorious cheese @Eataly, Toronto

@Eataly, Toronto

fresh produce @Eataly, Toronto

butcher @Eataly, Toronto

panettone of course @Eataly, Toronto

 While we spent over 3 hours there and were quite delighted with all the goodies they had to offer, it was just too crowded. There was pretty much a line up for everything, not just the checkout counters. It was a slow walk around the store and was tricky to navigate with a cart. By the last hour, we were all no longer in awe of the variety of items. We just needed to breathe. We did get deli, cheese, bread, drinks and pastries to enjoy at home. The stuff we got were excellent quality, but it may take us a while to go back--maybe when we will no longer feel like Italian sardines. Until then...