Arts Three-story food hall has wine, pizza, gelato and more Slideshow A Neopolitan pizza cooks in an oven at La Pizza & La Pasta inside Eataly Silicon Valley in Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara on June 8, 2022. Photo by Magali Gauthier. SLIDESHOW: Eataly has finally opened its […]
Click here to view original web page at almanacnews.com
Arts
Three-story food hall has wine, pizza, gelato and more
Slideshow
SLIDESHOW:
Eataly has finally opened its long-awaited, three-story food hall at Westfield Valley Fair shopping center in San Jose. Spanning 45,000 square feet and housing a rooftop restaurant, Eataly Silicon Valley provides Italian food lovers with a chance to do their grocery shopping, browse specialty foods and enjoy wine, pizza and gelato all in one place. The store marks the international food chain's first location in northern California.
A store with over 10,000 products can be overwhelming, so we enlisted the help of Viola Buitoni, an Italian food expert who teaches cooking lessons both in San Francisco and in Italy. She'll be releasing a cookbook named "Italy by Ingredient" next year and serves as the expert food adviser for San Francisco's Italian Consulate. We recently explored Eataly as part of a media tour before the store's official opening on June 16.
From dried pastas to fresh fish, here's Buitoni's guide to Eataly's must-have products:
Pope's salt: According to Buitoni, naming a food after a religious office means that the item is "very flavorful and a little (bit of a) secret." In Italy, religious leaders historically received the best products, usually for free.
Pope's salt has less of the bitter, mineral flavor that defines many other salts since it comes from the Adriatic Sea. Buitoni uses it to season already briny fish and earthy root vegetables.
Pizza: Eataly's Neapolitan pizza is crafted in partnership with Naples-based chain Rossopomodoro, and the buffalo mozzarella is imported from Italy since the store hasn't been able to recreate it locally (fresh mozzarella is made in store from cows' milk.)
Buitoni appreciates the mozzarella that tops Eataly's pizzas and says that the cheese should be judged by its milkiness. It shouldn't squeak when bitten into either.
Slideshow
Umbrian lentils: Perhaps Buitoni's favorite item in the entire store, these lentils hail from her home region of Umbria, Italy. She says that they stay whole, cook within 20 minutes and don't need to be presoaked.
Buitoni recommends sauteing the intensely flavored lentils with some pancetta, a bay leaf, tomato paste and flavorings including celery, carrot, onions or garlic. She then deglazes the pan with red wine and slowly braises the lentils in a bit of water.
Dried pasta: Buitoni stares closely at each pasta box looking for striations and imperfections. She points to the rough edges and streaks of white and yellow in the pasta made by Campofilone as an example of what she's looking for. These details show the use of real eggs and that the pasta hasn't been overworked. Provenance is also significant, and many of Eataly's selections come from Gragnano, a territory known for its dried pastas.
