Eataly LA

I was finally able to sneak into Eatlay this morning and snap some pics of the new Italian foodie mecca. As you enter in the building on the second floor there is just a gelato and Lavazzo coffee bar. But when you head up to the third floor, that is where all the action is. The difference between my visit at 10:30am and then again at 1pm was night and day. As beautiful the space and as incredible as the food is, I am not sure I can handle crowds like that in the near future again.  There was actually a thirty minute wait to get through the front door.

But it is so incredibly stunning with the open air and white tile. It feels like a massive Dean and Deluca. It's pretty overwhelming how to even begin deciding what and where to eat. And there is yet another line once you get up to the third floor that will lead you to a host stand where they will seat you. So what appears to be this big emporium of individual stands is pretty much controlled by FOH (front of the house) so not an independent eating experience. Even the bar was run by the host stand. There is no signage explaining how to go about navigating Eataly so it really is confusing.

But when we got to our table our experience took a 360. It was a beautiful table with a nice view out onto Santa Monica BLVD. I actually felt like I could even be in Italy! My pasta is pictured below, just a simple linguini with tomato and basil. But it could not have been better - sometimes simple is the hardest thing to execute. And the pizzas and fresh mozzarellas looked other worldly. We had a really nice crisp Italian Verdicchio that was pretty incredible at $10 per glass... My suggestion would be to go for a late breakfast or late lunch/ early dinner. You have to time it right or you might get  bit irritated ala yours truly. But no matter what, you will be impressed.