NYC Bites: Flatiron & Eataly

This week's New York City eating tour takes us to the Flatiron neighborhood.

The Flatiron neighborhood is named after that gorgeous weird building on the corner of 23rd and Broadway and 5th Ave. The neighborhood encompasses Irving Place, 20th St. to about 25th St. and Madison Ave.



The Flatiron is the new food mecca. Eataly is there and the Madison Square Park Food trucks till June 3. Eleven Madison Park is also here, winning the James Beard Award last week for best restaurant.



We sampled Roberta's wood fire pizza from Brooklyn (yes, they actually have a wood fired oven set up on the street). We tried the Bee Sting w/ soppressata and drizzled w/ honey!
Oh my.



Next was the famous "Crack Pie" for $5.25 a slice from Momofuku Milk Bar. I know the rest of the world is in love with this, but for me, I thought my fillings would fall out (not that I have any fillings.....don't be jealous).



It was so sweet I couldn't stand it. Sorry everyone. I know how you feel about it. It was like pecan pie on steroids. Not my kind of treat. Here's the recipe from the restaurant if you dare.




Lunch was eaten outside in the rain. Not my usual style, but I will suffer for good food.
Shake Shack has to be the best burger in the city. It was worth standing in line for. It is located right in Madison Square Park. You can check out their live Shack Cam to see how bad the line is....it wasn't horrendous in the rain.


Next venture was to Eataly. (I starved myself all weekend for this trip).



Eataly is the baby of genius Mario Batali and Madame Lidia Bastianich. Put these 2 heads together and everything is possible. Can you say QUALITY?



The place is huge. It is a big giant Italian market featuring the best of all the regions of Italy. I have never seen more gorgeous and unusual products in my life.

You say you like chocolate? Well, there are probably 100 different kinds to choose from. You want honey (miele)?.....there are about 65 different types, all from different regions. Pasta? The aisle is the size of my supermarket.

Here's the problem. The place is overwhelming, especially on a weekend. No where to walk, pushing and shoving, so packed we couldn't enjoy. I wanted to buy one of everything, but the line to pay for stuff was too long. I was salivating, but the husband was getting impatient and feeling claustrophobic, so we left.



We will try it next time on a Tuesday night in a snow storm.


On to Maialino for dinner. Maialino translates to Little Pig (or piglet) in Italian.
We shared a half a roast suckling pig with the skin on and the most unbelievable potatoes.



Crostini di Fegato (chicken liver) and fried carciofini (baby artichokes) to die for w/ anchovy dipping sauce. Squid ink pasta w/ bottarga (mullet roe).

I hope you enjoyed the tour.

Now who are the real "little pigs"?

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