Eataly – A Little Bit of Italy in Daikanyama

September 30, 2008

This past weekend I accidentally attended the grand opening of Eataly, a great to place to taste and shop for Italian wines, cheese, breads, pastries and almost everything else that you can imagine in Tokyo’s Daikanyama neighborhood.  And what a great accident it was! 

Surrounding a stone paved courtyard with relaxing patio seating, near Daikanyama’s landmark green flower, Eataly is the largest Italian food & wine center in Japan.   The store is a bakery, deli and wine store all rolled into one great location and also offers prepared food that you can take home and a variety of dine-in offerings. 

La Pasta offers fresh pasta with a choice of three different sauces each day, I Salumi E I Formaggi offers sample plates of proscuitto and cheeses straight from Italy, authentic Neapolitan Pizza comes straight out of the wood burning at La Pizza E La Foccacia, and Le Verdue offers vegetarian cuisine.  If you have room left for dessert, Il Gelato serves artisanal gelato alongside a very tempting pastry bar.

At Eataly “you can follow taste itineraries or wander through themed educational areas, attend courses in food education or take part in cooking classes held by renowned chefs. The calendar of events is packed with tastings, drinks with producers and various events dedicated to local products, and there’s a specialized library available for consultation. Scattered throughout are mini-restaurants where you can sample delicious dishes or take away prepared foods for later.”

My lunch companion Honor, webmistress of Tokyotopia, ordered the vegetarian Lasagna and I had a scrumptious dish that combined a generous serving of a fresh plum tomato sauce served with a dollop of ricotta cheese and lightly toasted bread.  Great Italian bread along with olive oil and vinegar were complimentary as was bottled Italian water. 

Both our dishes were excellent but the service was not as attentive as we had hoped, probably due to the fact that we were one of the first diners on their first day open to the public.  However, we dined at the counter and the chefs, who spoke English, were very helpful and friendly with an obvious passion for the food they were preparing. 

I will definitely will visit Eataly again as it is not often that you find a store where you can buy, eat and learn about great Italian cuisine under one roof in Japan!  (Eataly store diagram)

Eataly is located a two minute walk from Daikanyama Station and is open daily from 10AM to 10PM (Eataly Tokyo Access Map)

Image Credit:  Personal Collection