If you’re like me, fresh, delicious Italian food is a love language. Ever since I left Italy, I crave it daily and always seek it out. Eataly markets provide some of the freshest, most authentic Italian food outside of Italy, and, honestly, some of the best even in Italy.
Some quick background on Eataly markets that I learned during my time abroad: these markets were first started in Italy as a part of the Slow Food Movement. This movement was started in response to the growing influence of fast food restaurants, specifically responding to the McDonald’s that opened near the Spanish Steps in Rome. Food purists in Italy were furious at this atrocity of such a “restaurant” and wanted to bring attention to what makes Italian food so special.
The movement focused on local, whole, unprocessed ingredients, and aimed to promote traditional and regional foods, as well as sustainability. The main goal was to promote quality over quantity, something McDonald's does not seem familiar with.
So how did Eataly come out of all of this? Well, in an effort to push local, high quality, unprocessed ingredients, the Eataly markets were created to highlight the delicacies of Italy. When I had first heard of Eataly, I just assumed it was a tourist-focused gimmick to get people to buy fancy Italian groceries.
During my time abroad, we learned all about this Slow Food Movement in my Food and Culture course, and we took a little field trip to the Eataly market outside of Rome. We learned about how these markets take their ingredients very seriously, even making their own buffalo mozzarella on-site. Each food counter sells dishes as close to authentic as possible in a cafeteria-style setting, and many also include sit-down restaurants.
All of this to say that Eataly is my absolute favorite place to get a taste of Italy, and, lucky for me, there are TWO markets in New York. My favorite location is the Flatiron store because of their gorgeous rooftop restaurant called Serra.
Serra has a seasonal menu highlighting top quality ingredients from local New York farms, which they explain right on the menu. The best part about seasonal ingredients, besides of course the obvious sustainability of it, is that every time I go there’s a whole new menu! Much of Italy is like this, not for a marketing scheme but because restaurants truly only buy things that they can get in-season from their local suppliers. So for me, it’s an awesome, authentic eating experience.
I’ve been to Serra in three of the four seasons, and every time I leave incredibly satisfied. Not only is the food absolutely fantastic, but they re-decorate the rooftop for each season, which makes for great photo ops and a perfect atmosphere. I went in the winter a few years ago, and loved the winter florals that hung from the ceiling. It was a while ago, but I still remember getting two apps, burrata and meatballs, as my meal and loving every last bite.
This past summer, I decided that I didn’t want to celebrate my birthday anywhere but Eataly, so a group of friends and I feasted in the summery, floral heaven and indulged on tons of food and drinks.
Their cocktail menu also changes seasonally, so this summer we had pitchers of Aperol spritzes and peach sangria, both of which were exceptional. For apps, we had calamari, arancini, fried artichoke, and fried squash blossoms. The apps were so good we could have all eaten another round. If you haven't ever tried squash blossoms, you MUST. They have a beautiful, delicate flavor, and I had had them in Italy a few times, but the way Serra prepared them - stuffed with cheese and fried - made me love them all over again. Arancini are rice balls, which were perfectly crispy on the outside and gooey and cheesy on the inside. Artichokes were really big when I was in Rome, and they’re best when they’re fried (in my opinion), so Serra really knocked it out of the park with these crispy, crunchy artichoke bites. Of course you can never go wrong with some fried calamari, either.
My meal that night was a summery lamb ragu over spinach pasta featuring fresh local peas and other veggies. It was light but filling, and oh-so delicious. You can really tell that the pasta is freshly made, and the locally grown veggies make all the difference.
While the summer menu was delicious and the atmosphere gorgeous, I’m not sure anything can quite compare to autumn at Serra. I imagine that this is what some form of heaven looks like, with colorful fall leaves and decor draped from floor to ceiling, and a menu that transports you to the middle of a pumpkin patch on a crisp fall evening. This all sounds a bit dramatic, I know, but until you’ve been, you won’t understand how accurate this actually is.
Obviously the decor was a major draw for me, because who doesn't love a nice little fall photoshoot in the middle of Manhattan? But even if the restaurant was in a dark cellar in the basement, I would still come back over and over again just for this seasonal menu.
Let’s start with the cocktails. I got one of their Zenzero Frizzante cocktails, which was “Portofino Gin, Apple Aperitivo, Borgogno Bianco Vermouth, La Gioiosa Prosecco, [and] Ginger Syrup”, which basically tasted like an apple mule with a little extra kick of fall in it. It was light and very refreshing, and who doesn’t love a bubbly prosecco drink?
Once I had finished that one, I wanted to try the Melograno Margarita. It contained “Olmeca Altos Tequila, Arangiu Orange Liqueur, Saffron Liqueur, Lemon, Lime, [and] Pomegranate”, and they even poured it tableside, which added a fun little touch. It tasted like a fall-spiced margarita, with flavors almost similar to a mulled wine (if a mulled wine was cold and had tequila in it). It wasn’t my favorite, and I definitely preferred the Frizzante. There were also a couple of warm cocktails, including a spiked pumpkin spice latte, that I would have loved to try if it hadn’t been nearly 80 degrees the day I was there. Guess I’ll just have to go back when the weather cools down!
The appetizers were some of my favorite things of the day. I had calamari and the arancini again, but decided to try their simple bread course and order one of the side dishes as an app. I cannot say enough good things about the bread. I know, I know, bread is simple, bread is plain...I get it. But bread is a true test of how well ingredients can be put together to make something “easy” taste as good as the main course. This bread was one of those that I would eat every day of my life if I could do it without becoming 2,000 pounds. Accompanying the bread was a fresh, locally made creamy butter, and a fresh, basil butter with hints of lemon. The basil butter was far-and-away the favorite and I wish I could have asked for a pint of it to take home. Seriously, it was incredible.
The other app was actually one of their side dishes, but it worked perfectly as an appetizer too. The Zucca Arrosto, or roasted squash, was local delicata squash with crispy, caramelized pumpkin seeds. It was one of the best things I’ve ever had, and it was so simple that it really let the squash shine and show off it’s nutty, sweet flavor. Even if you’re not someone who likes squash, or someone who’s never had it, you need to try this and you will fall in love.
I’m a huge lover of pasta, and it’s something that Eataly always does extremely well. Since it was the fall menu, I had to try the butternut squash ravioli. Let me tell you, it was quite literally one of the most beautiful pasta dishes I’ve ever had. And I lived in Italy for four months. The dish was butternut squash-filled pasta in a brown butter sage sauce, topped with Italian almond cookie (Vicenzi Amaretti) crumbles. To try and describe it as best as I can, it tasted like candied butternut squash, in the sweet but slightly savory butter sauce that kept it balanced and not too sweet. The cookie crumbles on top added a perfect bit of texture and gave it all a very caramelized taste. It sounds like it would be a heavy dish, but it was perfect. It was like eating the sweetest, coziest parts of fall all in one bite and it literally melted right in my mouth.
I’m glad I also decided to get the veal ragu, because it helped give me a bit of a break from the sweetness of the butternut squash pasta. Long, freshly made tagliatelle noodles with a light ragu that let the veal really stand out. It seemed simple, but the depth of flavors let me know that it was anything but. I’m not someone who usually eats or orders veal, mostly on principle but also because it’s usually too expensive, but I really do trust the restaurant’s sourcing and I’m glad I decided to try it.
Finally, I absolutely had to have the tiramisu, one of my favorite desserts of all time. It was pretty good, I wouldn’t say it was my favorite I’ve ever had, but again, Eataly does everything well so it wasn’t disappointing. The fall menu had tons of delicious dessert options, but I was just too full to try anything truly decadent.
I would definitely go back and order everything again. Every single thing was delicious and well worth the calories and the cost. I would say skip out on the calamari because you can get that at any Italian restaurant, but definitely get the bread, as simple as it sounds. The arancini are delicious, but if I had to pick, I would do the squash again instead because the squash was so perfect. Absolutely try the butternut squash pasta, but I would recommend getting it as a table to split and all try because it is a bit overwhelming to have as a main course since it tastes more like dessert. I would love to get the veal ragu again, and it was so good I would highly recommend it, but if I went back I might try one of the main courses instead of the pasta, just to check out what they offer. As for dessert, you can’t go wrong with tiramisu, but I also really wanted to try the fritelle, which are little fried dough balls that I fell in love with when I was in Venice.
Overall, Serra provided one of the most well-put-together, most delicious, and most perfectly autumn-y menus I’ve ever experienced. If you haven’t tried Eataly yet, this is a perfect time to try it. You won’t find your spaghetti and meatballs or your pizza here at Serra, but you’ll enjoy a thoughtful, beautiful, authentic seasonal meal under some of the prettiest decorations in the city.
If you give it a try, let me know what you think!
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