Yesterday, peg, rtb, and I had lunch at Eataly. Our original plan was to have lunch at S&P, the formerly great Eisenberg’s, that has been written up a lot and is no longer a place that only NYers in the area go to get lunch. I got there early and there was a line out the door and around the corner. rtb had mentioned that maybe we could go to Eataly because S&J would probably be crowded, so I headed over there. I walked through the market, making note that I would stop there again on my way out and then looked over at the Pizza restaurant and almost every seat was taken. I wandered over to the seafood restaurant but before I got there, I saw Bar Milano, which had many empty tables. A couple were looking at the big menu in front, so I stood behind them and waited until they were done. After reading the menu, they faced each other and started having a conversation. Now I knew they saw me but they made no attempt to move, so I stuck my face in-between them and they said, “Oh!” and finally walked away. The maître ‘d walked up to me and started explaining the menu, which had a lot of choices. Then he started to explain Eataly to me and I told him I’d been before and was familiar with it and had eaten at some of the other restaurants. He said their restaurant was the best, so I said, “Okay,” and was seated and waited for peg and rtb.

The meat-centric restaurant, Manzo, at Eataly was the only restaurant that I had not tried and it looks like Bar Milano replaced it in 2021.

While waiting, the waiter asked if I wanted something to drink. I was not familiar with any of the white wines on their menu, so I asked for a white that was not sweet but was not very dry either. He asked a question about whether I wanted citrusy or crisp and I asked for crisp. He brought over a Sandro de Bruno, Soave from Veneto that was exactly what I wanted. He asked if I would like a glass or a glass and a half and I forgave him the fact that he did not know me because obviously I was going to go for the glass and a half which is poured into a very small pitcher for me to fill the glass myself.

peg ordered an Aperol Spritz and the Pollo Arrosto (roasted free bird half chicken, baby carrots, rosemary) and rtb got the Risotto al Salto. The risotto did not look like any risotto that we had ever seen before and I looked it up – it is a traditional Milanese dish that uses leftover risotto to make a pancake that is pan fried in butter and develops a crunchy crust on both sides.

Here is a photo from the internet:

I was hungry, so I started with the Barbabietole (roasted beets, Calabro ricotta, orange zest, micro red sorrel). The plate was beautiful and my photo does not do it justice.

It was rich, bright, and citrusy.

My main dish was Agnolotti del Plin (handmade braised beef, pork, and veal filled pasta, veal sugo). It was delicious and very rich. The veal gravy had to have been made from bones/marrow and I was sopping it up with some of the leftover bread. When ordering, I was trying to decide between the Agnolotti and the Tagliatelle al Ragù di Vitello (housemade tagliatelle pasta, Mosner family veal ragù, Agriform Grana Padano DOP) because I love a good ragù and had had a ragù during my Batali* week in one of his restaurants in 2007 that I still dream about. The waiter suggested the agnolotti and I am glad he did.

For dessert, rtb ordered the Panna Cotta (yogurt panna cotta, berry sauce, brown butter streusel, fresh berries) and I got the Millefoglie (puff pastry millefoglie, mascarpone cream, fresh raspberry, Chantilly cream). I had a taste of rtb’s dessert and it was tart and sweet. My dessert was also very good.

For dessert I got the Vin Santo del Chianti, Fattoria Lornano from Tuscany. It was very sweet but I like that in a dessert wine. I did not know there were sweet Chiantis and I look forward to ordering another when I see it. Or maybe I will buy some for myself.

Most of the Italian restaurants near me are Sicilian and I have eaten in some northern Italian restaurants in Manhattan and elsewhere but I do not think I have ever eaten in a Milanese restaurant. This was a great find and a restaurant that I would definitely go back to. As peg noted, there was music playing but it was too loud and we could have a comfortable conversation despite being in the middle of a huge market.

*While there I was wondering if Mario Batali still has an interest in Eataly, so I looked it up and he sold his interest in it, along with all his other restaurants, after the sexual assault accusations. (For those wondering what Batali week was – In 2007, I ate at each one of his NYC restaurants every day for seven days the week I turned 50 years old.)