Today in calorious consumption

[muckefuck]

My doctor appointment was inconveniently scheduled for the middle of the damn day but I decided to turn this from flaw into virtue and get some food shopping done. I needed to hit the Christkindlmarket to play Piet, but I was close enough to the new Eataly that I thought I'd swing through and check the hype. The layout is...special. Imagine a high supermarket with all the usual sections (e.g. cheese, wine, meat, veg). Now imagine an Italian-themed food court with all the usual stations (e.g. pizza, pasta, panini). Then scramble them together and spread them over two floors so that it's impossible to shop without having to pass through several busy dining areas and impossible to eat more than one kind of food at a sitting without having to run all over the place. This is, what, the twentieth store they've opened so the model must be tested and true but I think I still prefer the H-Mart layout (i.e. all the food stalls off at one end--except the hodogwaja; it should be a healthy walk to get those because otherwise the smell would be overwhelming).

In any case, I had a perfectly decent $9 slice of foccacia. (I suppose when a concept washes up on the Third Coast from New York, it brings the prices with it.) monshu had asked me to pick up some "interesting" pasta and, since we already have some croxetti, the best I could do after several passes through the section was trofie. It comes from the homeland of pesto, so it should match well with the homemade we have in the fridge. I did consider getting a loaf to try from their in-house bakery but (a) I think Italian bread kind of sucks and (b) we've got rye coming out our ears at home already, since the last time the Old Man hit BreadCo all they had was a miche. It's not convenient or cheap in any case, more what Fox & Obel used to be: a destination for when you need some crazy specialty ingredient where you can also get a bite to eat.

The Christkindlmarket was refreshingly sane, but even this didn't hold me back from being kind of a dick at the Sweets Castle. I understand the love of browsing in that place, but please--I come here every year, I know exactly what I'm looking for, just stay out of my fucking way and no one gets hurt, 'kay? There seemed to be a couple new offerings this year. I saw a sign advertising "noodles" but I didn't get close enough to check out what exactly they were. It seems the Bavarians have finally arrived, bearing with Weisswurst and Germknödel. I was tempted by the latter, but being still all full of bread from earlier, I plumped for a baked apple instead. I should have at least one more crack at the Markt (before Fledermaus) if I don't decide to brave the crowds again before that.

Comments

[bunj.livejournal.com]

Did Eataly have any decent wild boar? It's the time of year for it.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

I was doing a snatch-'n'-run kind of visit, so I didn't look at any of the more substantial offerings. And I wasn't going straight home so I (reluctantly) gave the meat and fish counters a miss.

The menu for the rosticceria has daily specials, including porchetta twice a week, but alas no cinghiale.

[bunj.livejournal.com]

Well, the founder of Eataly is Piedmontese, not Tuscan, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I hear they have good truffles, though.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

They're all about partnering with local producers bladeeblabla so maybe they just haven't found a good source nearby for wild boar. They need a man in Texas.

[tyrannio.livejournal.com]

innerdoggie and I stopped by Eataly yesterday (Saturday) to check it out, but it was so crowded we retreated to the comparative calm of Xoco (!) for lunch.

I did spot puntarelle, which I don't remember seeing elsewhere.