A new theme park dedicated to Italian food is set to open in November. The park in Bologna, Italy, will include a number of restaurants and a food market as well as farms and factories where you can immerse yourself in all things Italian food.
The park, called Eataly World, is set to be popular if it follows in the footsteps of the previous Eataly venues that have opened. According to Bloomberg, more than 15,000 people queued up to visit the New York branch when it opened in 2016.
The Concept
The idea behind the park is to tell the story of Italian food from field to fork, so it’s not just about eating platefuls of Italian food. Visitors will have the opportunity to see the farms and factories where food is produced and see real life demonstrations of how olive oil is made and how milk is turned into cheese. There are also plans to run events and classes that visitors can attend.
Of course, there will be restaurants too…over forty are planned for the site. Everything from trattorias, street-food kiosks and bistros will be on show.
The venue will also include a market, so if you prefer to buy fresh ingredients and cook yourself from scratch then you will be able buy the finest produce here too.
If you’re looking for something different in the Italian food market but a little closer to home, one restaurant in Dublin, http://www.forno500.ie/, is in the process of building the first wood fired oven in Ireland.
The History of Eataly
The Bologna park isn’t the first venue that Eataly has opened, this will be the thirteenth venue in Italy and there are a further eleven scattered round the world including the US, Seoul and Japan. Its aim is to allow visitors to discover a real taste of Italy and understand how the food they are eating and preparing is produced.
So, if Italian food is your passion then a trip to Bologna might be right up your street. Entrance is free so you will only need money for your travel and accommodation – oh and food! And if you can’t manage a trip all the way to Italy you can buy some of their produce online and take a look at some of the recipes and articles in their online magazine.