Dish it up, New York style

TWO new marketplace precincts in Manhattan feature trendy casual dining and great food to go.

Eataly is the latest foodie fad in Manhattan.

I COULD be in Milan, Florence or any other stylish Italian city. Shoppers are drinking good, strong espressos at high, marble-topped counters; there's a queue for artisanal gelato in flavours such as limone and fragola.

The line is three-deep at the panini counter and the tart of the day is coffee, almond and white chocolate. There are tiny dolci al cucchiaio, or spoon desserts, for an instant sweet fix.

Fresh pasta is displayed in cooled cabinets, long strands curled in neat piles and filled pockets arranged like ziggurats.

The shelves are lined with Santa Vittorio and Lurisia mineral water, packets of dried pasta and arborio rice, canned tomatoes and sauces, tins and bottles of olive oil, myriad varieties of balsamic vinegar, pistachio and cherry nougat in shiny wrappers and little containers of Pastiglie Leone button-sized pastilles in flavours as irresistible as mandarin and violet.

On its own plinth is a 35.3-ounce block of Guido Gobino extra-bitter chocolate.

This is Eataly, the world's largest indoor Italian-themed marketplace and the latest foodie fad in Manhattan.

On Fifth Avenue, at 23rd Street, in the funky Flatiron district, Eataly is a massive precinct of terrazzo floors, columns and arches, ceiling-high shelves, gleaming coffee machines and deli slicers, and a themed (but not kitsch)

fit-out that evokes a slightly retro version of bella Italia.

It's as much a neighbourhood shopping quarter as a dining venue, but works well in both regards. If you lived in the parish, you'd head here for organic fruit and vegetables, meat and cheese, oil-slicked olives and rustic bread made in a wood-fuelled oven (fantastic-looking loaves filled with raisins, olives and figs, and flavoured foccacia).

The seafood selection is overseen by David Pasternack, of New York's southern Italian trattoria Esca, who visits the Fulton Fish Market at Hunts Point every daybreak. This being New York City, the "vegetable butcher" will wash, scrape and cut your chosen items at no extra cost.

The cute plastic shopping carts have been fashioned from recycled water bottles and are essential if you are shopping with gusto as the village-like operation is warehouse-sized at 3825sq m.

As a tourist, the quest for coffee is the initial drawcard; the Americans somehow just don't get good coffee and even cosmopolitan New York is a wasteland for connoisseurs of caffeine. Once fortified at Eataly with a thoroughly decent cup, there are seven "dining destinations" from which to choose for a snack, lunch or dinner. A prosciutto plate with parmigiano-reggiano shavings at a stand-up table in the rotunda-style central piazza is $US12 ($12.14). The most formal option is the 80-seater Manzo, where the specialty is carne crudo, or raw beef ground to order, plus meat-based pastas, and this is the only outlet that takes bookings. (Tip: Eataly is incredibly crowded on weekends and from noon onwards; opt for an early lunch and avoid the mad push.) The Neopolitan-style pizzeria dishes up toppings of the ilk of a classic margherita from about $US9.

The Eataly concept started in the northern Italian city of Turin and this US offshoot is a collaboration with television chefs, restaurateurs and authors Mario Batali (star of Molto Mario) and Lidia Matticchio Bastianich (her Lidia's Italy screens here on the LifeStyle Food Channel) and her entrepreneurial wine merchant son, Joe Bastianich. Aside from the food offerings, there's a homewares section featuring Italian brands such as Alessi, Bialetti and Guzzini, and a bookstore, travel agency (Tuscany looks nice) and all-Italian wine shop next to the 23rd Street entrance. By the time you read this, a beer garden, La Birreria, should be launched atop Eataly; it will be open year-round and skyline views are promised along with platters full of pizzas and sausages.

Moving up Manhattan Island to the southeast corner of Central Park, the Plaza Hotel, as grand a turreted folly as a railway baron's chateau, has a new food quarter in what used to be this landmark property's basement laundry. Boston-based chef Todd English, who runs the Olives restaurant franchise in several US cities and operates dining rooms aboard Cunard's premium liners, has gone underground for his latest project, the Plaza Food Hall. "Quality local food with provenance" is the credo here and the space is reminiscent of Harrods' food hall in London.

There are no tables but diners sit on stools at counters that feature specialised fare, but you can order from any food station. So you could be eating Chinese dumplings, Japanese soba noodles or pizza at the sushi counter, which sounds odd, but there's a cosiness and conviviality about it all that works surprisingly well.

Across a 500sq m space, there's a bakery, demo kitchen for cooking classes and six sit-up counters (curved, horseshoe and rectangular), including a wine bar and charcuterie and, like the dining spots at Eataly, the scene is perfect for solo visitors or tourists on the hop. The lunchtime I visit, the place is buzzing and big-seller dishes of the day appear to be prime-rib sliders with caramelised onion and fontina from the Grill, chermoula-marinated jumbo prawns with lemon and parsley salad and sides of smoked paprika potatoes from the Ocean Grill and Oyster Bar, and tasting plates piled with the likes of charred octopus with grilled leeks and almond romesco from the tapas counter. Prices are reasonable, with east or west coast oysters from $US3 each, Asian noodle dishes from $US9, a platter of five handmade dumplings with a side of kimchi from $US9 and a delicious-sounding fig jam and prosciutto pizza with a rosemary crust and gorgonzola at US$12.

English's teenage daughter Isabelle is part of his new venture, too. Her company supplies lavishly frosted Curly Cupcakes treats in flavours such as carrot with vanilla cream cheese topping or fluffy lemon with pomegranate icing: perfect mouthfuls with a cup of excellent coffee.

It's always a good sign when the locals are enthusiastic about a new place to eat and both these multi-dimensional outlets have already proved a hit with New Yorkers, although there have been complaints about the midday crowds at Eataly and the long queues.

Consider the two as ideal refuelling stops between the must-visit attractions of uptown and downtown. And each has food "to go". What could be more New York than a Bible-thick pastrami on rye sandwich and a cupcake with high-curled frosting aboard an open-top double-decker sightseeing bus, head craned towards those iconic skyscrapers?

Checklist
Eataly, 200 Fifth Ave (at 23rd Street); daily 9am to 11pm. Reservations for Manzo recommended (lunch from 11.30am, or noon on Sundays, to 2.30pm and dinner 5.30pm to 10pm). More: www.eataly.com.

The Plaza Food Hall by Todd English, 1 West 59th St (at Fifth Avenue); 7am to 9pm Sundays to Thursdays and 7am to 10pm Fridays and Saturdays.

More: www.theplazafoodhall.com.