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Ate Small Bites, Drank Wine, Learned a Bit About a Distant Place
As a food journalist, I get a lot of press releases about food-related events and the occasional invitation to cover as press. Most of the ones I attend are focused on local and/or sustainable food, but occasionally I accept an offer that takes me a bit off my turf.
One of these was the Amalfi Coast Festa Walk-Around tasting event held at the Chicago location of Eataly, located in the River North community a couple of blocks off Michigan Ave.'s Magnificent Mile, on Saturday (July 13).
I have described Eataly as something of an Italian food theme park, and enjoyed stopping in fairly frequently when I worked in an office a few blocks to its west, though much less so in the 4+ years that our apartment has also been my permanent office.
I also have a fondness for the place because Lidia Bastianich — restaurateur, popular TV chef and one of my favorite cookbook authors — is a partner in Eataly.
Italy's Amalfi Coast is located not far south of Naples, along the Tyrhennian Sea and Gulf of Salerno, both of which feed into the Mediterranean Sea. Its pretty hillside towns along the water attract many tourists.
The Eataly event provided three hour-and-a half time slots. I took the last, which started at 3 p.m. Transportation problems delayed me, leaving me with about an hour to visit all the stations, which were scattered among the bustling 2nd floor with its grocery shelves; bakery; racks of wine, meat, fish, cheese and charcuterie counters; and restaurants.
I was up to the challenge. Here's photographic proof.
Everything was tasty, but I admit that if there was an option to trade your 10 other samples for a big portion of one, this Insalata di Mare (seafood salad) would have been it.
Pasta al Limone (lemon butter pasta) and Fritto Misto (fried mixed seafood). Not surprisingly for a coastal region, seafood is big on the Amalfi Coast. The region around Amalfi is lemon-growing country, and limoncello, a liqueur made with lemons and vodka, originated there.
Bruschetta Pomodoro (whipped ricotta and tomato on housemade bread) and Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina (mozzarella and tomato gnocchi)
Focaccia Limone (focaccia with lemon and thyme).
Foccaccia Cipolla (focaccia with red onion and rosemary)
The beauty of this Italian Formaggi and Prosciutto e Melon plate of assorted cheeses, prosciutto-wrapped melon and dried fruit was its simplicity.
Adult beverages also flowed freely. The photo at the top is the stand where Pallini Limoncello Spritz and Peachello Spritz were being made (I chose the latter).
It would be hard to find a more evocative wine name than Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio, this from the Mastroberardino winery. According to Wine Enthusiast, "Literally translating to 'The Tears of Christ on Vesuvius,' the most popular version of the name's derivation involves Jesus' tears dropping at the foot of Vesuvius, ultimately sparking the miraculous growth of the region’s grapevines." (Mount Vesuvius is the volcano that infamously erupted and buried the city of Pompeii in 79 A.D.)
Greco di Tufo white wine from the Feudi di San Gregorio winery had a less dramatic name, but it was equally refreshing.
And for dessert, samples of Limoncello Tiramusi (self-explanatory) and Delizia al Limone (profiterole with lemon custard).
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