It took me two whole months of saying that I was going to go to Eataly for me to finally make it there. Let me tell you how much I regret that! I wish that I had made the trip over there way before now! Walking into Eataly feels like walking into a grocery wonderland, for lack of a better term! The store is three stories high with different sections on the floor dedicated to different ingredients. The first floor has chocolate, produce and bread. The second is completely dedicated to cheeses of all kinds. Finally, the third floor is all meats and wine. There are restaurants that are scattered about amongst the floors, but because I was there later at night on a Sunday, they were mostly winding down and I did not get the chance to eat at any of them. I took a few pictures here and there while I was shopping to just give a little bit of a feel of the store!
To start off with, here is a picture of some of their produce in these stands that are set up in the store. There are brown paper bags on either side of the stalls and you pick and choose what you want and pack it up in the bag. In the middle of the section, there is an employee standing in front of a computerized scale and you can bring your bags over there. He looks inside and looks up the code by memory and prints out the sticker with the price for you. This seemed like a little bit of a strange system to me, but it was efficient, so I really have no complaints!
Something that has been a struggle here that I was not anticipating, is finding dark leafy greens. When I am at home, even if vegetables are exactly in season, it is always easy to find greens like spinach, kale, collards, or escarole no matter what. That sentiment does not reign true here. I am lucky to find a head of cabbage in my local grocery store, so finding this whole section in Eataly was amazing! The price of these bunches was not too far off of what they would be at home and I cannot wait to incorporate these dark leafy greens back into my diet!
Another exciting find was Pink Lady apples! These are one of my favorite varieties of apples back at home and it was such a treat to find them here. They were pretty pricey (7 euro for 5 apples…) but I bought them anyways knowing that I will eat them all and enjoy every bite!
One section of the store that I found to be really interesting was this pepper selection. The woman that was working there handing them out wore gloves due to the fact that the scoville units (heat index) of some of these peppers is through the roof. Flanking this section was a big display of probably 15 different types of chili powder. There were a lot of signs that explained the peppers with their regions and heat index, but due to the fact that they were all in Italian, I do not have much more to tell you about that!
Everyone knows that Italian bread reigns king in the bread world in this section of the store smelled sweet and fresh, the way that any good bread should smell. My roommate, in the photo, spent a long time making the hard decision between focaccia-type rolls or a traditional crusty loaf. She ended up going with the rolls to make her own paninos for lunch for the week with the fresh mozzarella and prosciutto that she also bought!
Between our brief trip to an Asian market and our trip to Eataly, my roommate and I ended up taking the train home last night with two full reusable bags of groceries that will provide for a nutritious and delicious week of meals!
A Message from the Office of Global Engagement:
The safety and security of Drexel students is a priority for the University. As part of the efforts to support Drexel students that are studying abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Global Engagement has conducted a rigorous review of programming and provided additional support to participating students with customized pre-departure orientations and regular check-ins during the required self-isolation period and the term.
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