Eataly's highly anticipated food hall in London opened this month in Broadgate. The Uk's first dedicated Italian marketplace. It doesn't disappoint.
We've patiently been waiting a number of years for the iconic Italian food brand to bring their mix of 'market' and exemplary culinary restaurants, eateries and bars to our shores. Our ever ripening desire for more innovative food experiences has left us salivating at the prospect of their arrival for some time now. Their chosen location is next to Liverpool street station in a monstrously ugly 80's office building. A reminder of a time when not only the food was bad, but the architecture was vying to be even worse. Luckily for us Eataly have converted the 42,000 Sq Ft. space into an Italian food fest over two floors leaving the architecture behind. The hall inside is as bold as it is refreshing. If great Mediterranean food is your thing then you will be truly enamoured with their presence here.
We made the trip early in the morning to see a well oiled machine of artisanal Italians hard at work prepping for the days trade. Cleverly, and for the benefit of the customers, Eataly make the process of making and doing highly visible. Whether they are stirring and stretching fresh curd by hand for their mozzarella house, or kneading the dough for their freshly baked bread at La Panetteria. They understand how spectacle benefits the customer and ultimately converts into rewarding sales. Beyond food theatre they also have a cooking school for both adults and kids at La Scuola. While wine tasting and events naturally compliment to round out the experience. Overall the design is grand enough for their brand to quickly become a talking point amongst Londoners who have never had the Eataly experience previously. Our advice is to get there while the word is not fully out. Restrictions permitting.
At the heart of the Eataly experience lies the presentation of fresh ingredients up front to provide an enticing retail 'market' offer. The curation of premium quality local and Italian foods is used also for the benefit of their restaurant operations. This mix of market and hospitality creates an energetic and compulsive experience for the customer that is unmatched anywhere else on the planet, except of course for their other 40+ food halls around the world! Forget F&B. This is F&E. Food and experience at it's very best. If only all our clients would be so bold!
Ground Floor Design.
The main corner entrance uses the circular caffe bar with its' saintly halo suspended above as a central focal point to the mostly square room. The space has been conceived as a place to meet, an Italian caffe in the traditional sense and a lunch time stop off with grab and go all at once. The bar's circular design is impressive and it displays their finely made cakes beautifully. However, it also unsurprisingly presents a few problems for customers. Beyond some confusion for ordering and pick up, the arrangement of tables and chairs has had to fit the left over space after the bar was centrally positioned, creating a slightly uncomfortable space. With the architectural impact prioritised over function. What should be a better hospitality space has been compromised. One can't be overly critical. The space will also cater for events and other functions too. This room is hedging its' bets in a time when uncertainty rules.
In one highly decorative corner of the room we are led to an Italian 'dolci' tunnel that is full of chocolate, pastries and cannoli. The space is lined with coloured lights twinkling on a colonnade of fret-cut panels that continue on the ecclesiastical design theme. Highly instagrammable, the lights are also a navigation device directing us towards the main hall that includes fresh pasta and bakery counters. In front of these in the main double height space, a gigantic wine bar commands the main facade elevation. Providing a towering focal alter point to the ground floor. Positioned for maximum exposure to passers by, and designed to attract all those bankers wishing to spend their winnings after work on a Friday night. I can almost hear the clinking of champagne glasses as we near the end of lockdown. This space has been cleverly thought through to work throughout the day.
First Floor Experience.
Once you leave the ground floor behind. The cheese and cured meats counter provide a focal destination on landing at the top of the escalator run. The colourful and beautifully curated produce department has been strikingly well positioned as a neighbour to create a double whammy of food love. Backing off the counter is the restaurant 'Cucina del Mercato' which to all accounts is a wonderful restaurant that directly utilises the connected meat and fish offers. This is complimented by a further two larger restaurants pinned around the main space. A fourth is due to open soon off the impressively scaled wine department. The emphasis on the first floor is on creating a great set of hospitality spaces that use the buzzing retail space to create vitality and energy. In Eataly's words, "We cook what we sell and we sell what we cook." It is a simple concept, and is highly effective in creating a unique customer experience if their other stores are anything to go by.
Central to the space is the grocery department, decked in white furniture which makes for a memorable visual intervention. With the fresh mozzarella and ricotta kitchen forming a backdrop to the department, you cannot go too far without being impressed by the detail of the visible operations and the quality of the ingredients everywhere in this space. We were lucky to see the mozzarella being stretched and balled!
The wine department takes up a convoluted set of spaces running back towards the corner entrance and around the enormous staircase, which takes up far too much retail space. The department snakes ultimately to La Scuola, the cooking school, which lacks a real design statement as punctuation to the space. Notwithstanding it's compromised space, the department is impressive in it's scale and variety of great Italian wines on offer.
As yet we have yet to try any of the restaurants and eateries but when we do we will update our blog. We can't wait to try Cucina del Mercato for their incredible cold cuts and oysters. Terra for their wood burning grill and seasonal menu, and La Terrazza for an Aperol spritz in the sunshine!
In conclusion Eataly London is an incredible food hall that will influence the way others will retail food in the future. In an age when we want to know more about the provenance of ingredients and production of foods. Eataly lead the way, making use of often great local ingredients to create exceptional foods in-store while mixing in great hospitality to cook up a great experience. All hail Eataly!
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