Dreaming of Eataly

The new BonTerra Farm Market brings the best of Europe to Valley foodies, but will it put down roots?

As we count down the hours ’til Thanksgiving (aka the foodiest day of the year), we’ve got food on the mind even more than usual. Today, however, we’re not thinking about Tom Turkey or Sally Stuffing. No, we’re obsessing over bodegas and Batali. Never heard of either? Well, grab your passport and your insatiable appetite because we’re going on a quick jaunt to Eataly.

As seen in GQ, the NY Times and pretty much every major food publication, Eataly is a new 50,000-square-foot gourmet market and food court offering hungry Manhattanites the best of Italian cuisine under a single roof. Co-owned by famed NYC chef, Mario Batali, this US extension of the popular Turin-based chain tempts with everything from flopping-fresh fish and house-butchered meats, to fresh pastas, pasta sauces and more imported Italian specialty foods than you can shake a bufala mozzarella at. Meanwhile, the cooking-adverse can simply pull up a spot at the counter and sip wine while savoring authentic Neapolitan-style pizzas or Mediterranean-style sushi known as crudo.

In short, it’s like a traditional bodega, or corner grocery store, on steroids. (Organic, cage-free steroids, that is.) All of which leaves our hungry stomachs pondering, why can’t we get something like that here? Well we have, and they all failed miserably. Remember Dish, a sprawling space in North Scottsdale that combined a bakery, pizzeria, coffeeshop and sit-down wine bar, with a gourmet grocery and to-go food court? Well, no matter because it’s long gone, as is a smaller scale version named Food Bar, which formerly occupied the Metro Brasserie space at SouthBridge Scottsdale.

However, we just received word about another attempt to perfect this elusive mix. Named BonTerra Farm Market, this locally-owned store is described as a ‘European-style farmers market and grocery,’ as well as a deli, bakery and coffeeshop, full-service restaurant, and gourmet to-go counter. Here, patrons can peruse organic produce and all-natural foodstuffs, grab a baguette from Valley-based Simply Bread, or enjoy a sit-down breakfast, lunch or dinner seven days a week. Think of it as a quicker, locally-focused (and more affordable) version of Whole Foods or AJ’s Fine Foods.

Now let’s just hope this latest foodie feast isn’t just another seasonal offering.

Boffo Bodega: 4326 E. Cactus Rd., 602-569-3410

Image via OurKitchenSink