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Food & Drink

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills

Toronto’s third location of the Italian emporium is now open

By Liza Agrba| Photography by Jelena Subotic
 | June 19, 2024
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Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills

Move over, Yorkville—there’s another Eataly in town, complete with a new, massive stuffed focaccia. The Italian grocer, known for its market-like retail set-up and in-store restaurants, first touched down in Yorkville five years ago with a sprawling, 50,000-square-foot flagship. Then, last year, a slightly smaller Eataly opened up in Sherway Gardens. The new Don Mills location, at 10,000 square feet, has a significantly smaller footprint than either of its predecessors, with proportionally streamlined offerings (there’s no fresh produce, for example) but plenty of the retailer’s token charm. Think of it as a thin-crust slice of Italy.

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills

The retail section is one large room with soaring ceilings. There’s a pizza counter and salumeria at the far end, where you can get freshly sliced meats and cheeses, and a pastry case and coffee stand along the wall. The grocery selection ranges from wine and olive oil to fresh bread, pasta and quality canned goods. Given the reduced footprint, the groceries comprise the retailer’s greatest hits—among which are Eataly-branded coffee and pasta, including some relatively uncommon shapes like fusilli lunghi, which resemble long, loose curls. Attached to the main room is this location’s restaurant, Eataly Ristorante, featuring a dedicated pizza oven and an outdoor patio.

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
Il Gran Caffè has a selection of fresh pastries. There’s a lot to love here, but the pistachio cornetto (call it a croissant and risk summoning the ghost of a ladle-wielding nonna) is a must-try

 

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
Il Gran Caffè gets its beans from Illy, a Trieste-based coffee company. You can get everything from a drip or flat white to specialties like a cocoa-infused cappuccino Viennese. Between extra shots and syrups, there’s lots of room to customize

 

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
Sure, you can drop in and pick up a dazzling celebration dessert, like a torta di mele (Italian apple cake) or crostata alla frutta (a fruit tart on shortcrust pastry). But there’s also something to be said for a personal-sized tiramisu or cornetto with a bracing cup of coffee

 

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Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
The centrepiece here is the Amalfi torte, with peaks of Italian lemon meringue on sweet shortcrust pastry and a ring of toasted almonds

 

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
Down a stretch from Il Gran Caffè is the pizza counter, featuring Roman-style slices. Next to it is La Salumeria, which is exclusive to this location. Here, you’ll find freshly sliced meats and cheeses alongside panini and focaccia farcita, or stuffed focaccia

 

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
Here we have the aforementioned meat and cheese—and in the background, gargantuan focaccia farcita (stuffed focaccia) generously stacked with freshly sliced deli meat. On the left we have farcita cotto (Rovagnati prosciutto cotto, zucchini, stracciatella), and on the right, farcita salame (salame, Ghidetti provolone piccante, arugula and hot honey).

 

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
Rustic loaves of fresh bread, featuring a 35-year-old mother yeast, line the wall next to La Salumeria.

 

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
A few varieties from the pizza counter, featuring sweet cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and briny olives, to name a few tasty toppings. These are thin-crust Roman-style slices dubbed “pizza alla pala” after the wooden paddle (pala) on which they’re served.

 

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Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
The grocery section is pared down from Eataly’s other locations, but between cured meats, olives, quality olive oil, pasta, tomato products and the like, there’s still enough to build a lifetime of meals around

 

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
Get your fix of Italian soda, whether you’re a fan of mouth-puckering chinotto or refreshing limonta

 

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
Eataly recently launched its own line of pasta. Try the vesuvio (smooth spiral tubes) or the antichi fusilli (stretched curls)

 

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
This archway separates the retail space from the restaurant

 

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
Eataly CEO Tommaso Brusò couldn’t pick a favourite product, but he did let on that, as a Venetian, he’s more of a seafood than a meat guy—and prefers risotto over pasta. “The beauty of Italy is that, region to region, you’ll find completely different cuisines,” he says. “We try to represent that diversity here. And of course, Italian cuisine is always evolving, so we want to bring to North America what is actually happening in Italy today—not some stereotype of Italian food”

 

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Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
A selection of goodies from Eataly Ristorante

 

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
In the foreground, we have a tangle of housemade tagliatelle with pork and beef bolognese, topped with 18-month-old parmigiano-reggiano

 

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
A burnished portion of Atlantic halibut with grilled zucchini and tomato, topped with fennel and fennel fronds

 

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
This is the cotoletta alla Milanese—a rather large pork chop, breaded, fried, topped with flaky salt, and served with local greens and a lemon for squeezing.

 

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
Two pizzaioli toss the dough for the Neapolitan-style pies served in the restaurant

 

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Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
A bartender constructs the perfect Aperol spritz

 

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
The 180-seat restaurant’s sun-bathed dining room

 

Inside the new 10,000-square-foot Eataly at the Shops at Don Mills
Here, you’ll find wine representing Italy’s main regions, from robust Piedmontese reds to Tuscan chiantis and beyond

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