Big name American chefs like Mario Batali are partnering with their Italian colleagues at Eataly next week for Identita New York, a two day series of intimate cooking demonstrations, wine tastings, and old-fashioned Italian eating. The second annual event is presented by Identita Golose, a culinary organization that promotes Italian food. We're not sure that Italian food really needs any further promotion, but if you're into cooking, you may want to check this out. On October 31st, for instance, chef Missy Robbins (A Voce) will team up with Emanuele Scarello (Agli Amici, Udine, Italy) for demonstration on how to make Ricotta Filled Pasta. more ›

After helpless West Village residents reached out to a humble neighborhood alt-weekly about all the limosines idling outside Babbo, the city—nay, the world—waited for a response from The Mario Batali. Taking a break from tweeting Marxist propaganda, Batali wrote, "We are working on it, harmony is possible." No word on how the neighbors are going to take Batali's rumored plans to turn Babbo into "Eataly II: Still Better Than Olive Garden." more ›

Avert your gaze from the rabble on Wall Street to the real victims of the modern economy: highly successful restaurateurs. It's really difficult to manage a restaurant empire when you're getting sued for back pay and lost tips by your staff, says Joe Bastianich, who co-owns Eataly, Babbo, and Del Posto. "Money-hungry lawyers, through frivolous lawsuits, are shaking down the very foundation of Manhattan's restaurant industry," the money-hungry businessman tells the Post. "Someone in Albany needs to understand the agenda, what this is really costing the greatest restaurant city in the world." Despite this harshest of anti-business climates, restaurants in New York City grew by 42% in the last decade. more ›

Eataly, the sprawling Italian shopping and dining megacomplex in Chelsea, gets the Times treatment today. "It is giant and amazing, on its face, a circus maximus," writes critic Sam Sifton. "But what are we really to make of it? Is Eataly a menace (so big and corporate) or an answered prayer (OMG, they sell Barilla bucatini)?... Does Eataly strike a chord for those desirous of food made close to home, with its house-made bread and mozzarella, its fresh pasta and local bass? Or does it display carbon footprints to rival those of an airline, with its dry pastas shipped in from Naples, its prosciutto from Friuli, its October-grown organic strawberries from Central and Southern California, from Florida, Central Mexico or Baja? Is Eataly good for us? Or is it the opposite? more ›

"Nuela is a large and garish new pan-Latin restaurant on West 24th Street that seems at first blush about as welcoming as a Miami nightclub," writes Sam Sifton in today's Times. "People with shiny hair and incredible heels predominate, followed by people in Prada suits and Kanye West-style sneakers, followed by a lot of people wearing sunglasses and carrying fashion-label bags the size of sofa cushions. In the minority: the unbeautiful." And yet, despite a "rambling menu... there is good eating at Nuela, if only you can allow yourself to revel in, or ignore, the scene." more ›

Upon walking into Eataly, the mammoth new food experience from Joe Bastianich, Lidia Bastianich, Mario Batali and Oscar Farinetti, you might actually think you were in Italy. Besides the produce, nearly everything is imported, and the 50,000 sq. ft. bi-level space is filled with rows upon rows of dried pasta, nougat, olive oils and anchovies piled 12 feet high. You're welcomed with a smart espresso bar as the space opens into seven "restaurants," 14 food stations and a full "piazza" with a raw bar, fresh-cut prosciutto and marble-top tables. But this is not the Italy most Americans imagine—the Italy of quaint Tuscan towns and pushy grandmothers. This is the Italy of Vespas and stilettos. And as Mario Batali hopes, "It could be the cornerstone of Italian gastronomic culture." more ›

Gus Van Sant’s Oscar-nominated film aside, milk itself is undergoing a bit of strange renaissance. Milk is hot. Fact is, our recession has accelerated the eternal return to comfort food. And unless you’re lactose intolerant, a tall glass of milk might make you feel better. Here are a few highlights from milk’s current curdle-free moment in the sun: more ›