You can't but fall in love with Eataly so we decided to visit their other location at Brian&Barry. The food at the first was delicious so here we were again, an Italian restaurant, a fresh space inspiring tasty offerings.
Today we're having a late lunch at the second location of Eataly taking over the fourth floor of a shopping complex on Via Durini. A cozy restaurant under a low ceiling decorated with porcelain plates and lanterns made of baskets. Wood and traditional tiles cover the floor in a space filled with wooden tables.
The menu is colorful. Antipasti, sfizi fritti, bufala, primi, insalatone, brace, pagnottielli, contorni, pizze and dolci. They also have a menu in English.
Unfortunately the service is not up to standard. A bunch of kids, lacking a bit of training and attention. Supervisors walking around counting tables, open discussions and a very slow service. You have to shout continuously for someone to look at you. Anyway, I was so hungry that today only the food mattered and I was so excited to order the desserts made of Nutella and Buffalo milk ice cream.
Delicious Italian food, a premium quality:
- Scamorzina: Oven grilled buffalo scamorza cheese, safe and bacon, a hint of lemon, grilled tomatoes and toasted bread. A perfect blend of flavors, a very well done plate.
- Bufala: DOP campania buffala mozzarella with rocket salad, cherry tomatoes, basil and oregano. Add olive oil, balsamic and sprinkle of salt, pick in the same bite rocket, tomatoes and a chunk of cheese... Marvelous.
- Tubettoni patate e guanciale: Tubettoni pasta with potatoes and pork cheek, creamed with smoked provola cheese and pecorino Bolognese cheese. As simple as it looks, pasta with boiled potato chunks, melting cheese, tiny bits of pork and the smoked provola which leaves a long lasting flavor in the mouth. I love it when amazing things come out of simple innovations.
- Papaccella olive e capperi pizza: Smoked provola cheese, strips of Neapolitan papacella pepper, basil, capers, black olives and auricchio scorzanera cheese shavings. It's a pizza that's simply different. A fluffy and juicy dough, which is not something I often get, a white cheese that's lightly watery but fresh and juicy, topped with grilled, colorful capsicum and those olives which should add salty notes... Unfortunately they are left with their stone in and are unpleasant to eat.
- And now dessert: Two kinds, both of which I was intrigued to try, the Nutella tiramisu and the buffalo milk gelato. Not worth the wait, nothing exceptional about them; the tiramisu needs flavor, the coffee is not as good as they claim and the flavors are faded in.
The food is delicious, the setup is enjoyable and the view as well. I'd work on training the staff.
