Making up for the lack in weekday suit trade, the Eataly London opening has generated throngs of weekend visitors to the City. Attracting 7 million visitors a year in New York, the Italian food emporium injects fresh inspiration into the Square Mile’s retail offer. Deprived of a trip to Florence or Rome, I decided to grab a slice of la dolce vita right here in London.

What is Eataly London?

Eataly London is an experiential food market/restaurant hybrid where you can shop, dine, learn to cook or simply kick back with an Aperol spritz. This is the first UK opening for a food concept that spans fifteen countries.  There are three restaurants and six eateries spread across two floors. And more than 5000 high-quality Italian products vie for your attention.   Eataly London prides itself on “cooking what we sell and selling what we cook” – giving consumers the opportunity to try before you buy.  Open kitchens and production labs also add to the immersive experience.

Where is Eataly London?

Eataly London Broadgate is located just outside Liverpool Street station. A foodie mecca: it takes up the whole ground floor of the old Royal Bank of Scotland building at 135 Bishopsgate.  There’s no need to pre-book a visit but expect queues at weekends.  Restaurants must be booked in advance. But you can also grab a slice of pizza on the go on the ground floor. I arrived at 11.00am on a Sunday morning just after the opening and queued for fifteen minutes.

What products are on offer?

It’s hard to believe that one country is synonymous with so much delicious food.  On arrival you enter a cavern of cakes and gelato. Prolonging the sugar rush, you then delve into the most sumptuous sweetie counter. Here Parma violets are the retro star attraction.  Next, the aroma of freshly baked bread tempts you into a land of neatly stacked sourdough before you ascend the stairs into a parallel universe of pasta.  From stars to Mexican hats, it’s a far cry from the spaghetti staples that avail my supermarket shelves.  But amongst all this abundance, it’s gratifying to note that Eataly London also uses fresh home-grown produce from local suppliers including a dairy farm in Devon.

What else can I do on a visit to Eataly London?

With the growth in online shopping and food deliveries, consumers are demanding so much more from a trip into town today.  Eataly London excels by offering a diversity of experiences from wine tastings to children’s cooking classes.  You can enjoy an exclusive themed dinner where chefs and wine experts share their stories. Corporates in need of a touch of post-pandemic team-bonding can also indulge in some fresh pasta-making or guided wine and cheese pairings.

While it may still be a while before people return to City offices, it’s great to see such a bold, new food concept attracting weekend visitors in their droves.