A Religious Experience: The Holy Trinity (of beef) at Eataly

When my boyfriend came to visit last weekend, we planned to dine at BIG and little's, a great gourmet diner, after going to a matinee performance at The Second City. We hurried to the train after the show, fighting the bitter winter wind, and luckily, hopped on the brown line to go one stop south for some Foie Gras Fries or a Porkbelly Po' Boy.

From the train, we could see the restaurant, however, and the windows looked black. It must have been closed on Sunday, but not having a plan B, we scrambled to think of something for dinner, and Eataly it was.

We had actually visited Eataly on Saturday while killing time before heading to RPM for dinner, and the place was packed. When I originally visited Mario Batali's Italian emporium, I had gone during the work day, when it was easy to browse and I could take my time pursuing the selection of meats, cheeses, breads, and desserts.

The perfectly crisp roasted fingerling
potatoes were a side to our beefy feast

Saturday was a different story. It was so packed inside that moving around was impossible. It was difficult to see anything, and finding a table would have been impossible. But on Sunday, we were hoping that we would luck out and be able to grab a table.

Lucky for us, the crowds had subsided Sunday night, and we basically had our pick for any of the restaurants inside. After browsing some of the menus throughout, we chose to dine at La Carne, which is one of the few restaurants that is actually separated from the large space.

We were seated right away, and took a look at the menu. The selections were wonderfully varied, and I can't wait to go back and order more. But one of the specials that night was a 30 oz bone-in ribeye for two steak with a side of roasted fingerling potatoes and brussels sprouts with pancetta. 

Brussels sprouts are my favorite veggie, and they
were absolutely massive! The crispy, salty, fatty
pancetta stole the show, though.

Now, I have a hard time ordering steak out because I often feel that at home, you can make it for a lot cheaper, and it will be just as delicious. However, on Matt's request, I agreed to order the rib eye (I mean, it's not like I wouldn't enjoy it), and I'm really glad we did.

To start our meal, the waitress brought us bread and olive oil. Let's first note that the olive oil was of excellent quality. There truly is a difference in taste between good olive oil and the cheap stuff, and this was fantastic. We also ordered a salad to start. The Insalata di Mele had red cabbage, apples, speck, and asiago with a red wine vinaigrette. The salad was delicious and light, and though it was sparse, every bite of meat was a little treat. I have to say that although the meaty bites were my favorites, had there been any more of the speck in the salad, the flavor would have been overpowering. The salad maintained the perfect balance of the salty meat, sweet apples, and of course, the wonderful asiago cheese made it even better.

The bouquet garni

After we finished our salad, they brought our rib eye out to us on a platter. In many ways, this is torture, because they bring out this beautiful hunk of beef, then take it away and put it back in the kitchen to rest before they carve it up. It smelled wonderful, and the crusty outside looked positively delectable. It was the biggest tease for a carnivore like me.

They brought out our sides, followed by a platter of our beef, cooked to a perfect medium rare. With the beef, they delivered a bouquet of herbs, mostly rosemary and thyme, a ramekin of olive oil, and some sea salt flakes. The waitress explained that the best way to eat this beef was to brush it with olive oil with he bouquet garni, and add a pinch of the sea salt.

Honestly, the beef didn't need it (although it was a nice, flavorful addition). Sometimes, the stars align and the beef gods smile upon you by delivering the holy trinity of steak, and this piece of meat did just that. In order for this to occur, the beef must be:

Observe how all three of the criteria are met to create the holy trinity
of steak. I take my beef seriously.

1. Cooked to perfection (medium-rare, for us)
2.  A good cut of meat (you could tell that this piece of beef was high quality…the worst thing that could possibly happen in these situations is that you just get a bad piece of beef).
3. Perfectly seasoned (the flavor comes from that crispy crust and the marbling of the meat)

This piece of beef met all of my criterion, and Matt and I were in heaven.

Don't get me wrong, the sides were excellent, too. The fingerling potatoes were well-seasoned, and they had a nice and crisp outside with a buttery center. The brussels sprouts were also fantastic, with the pancetta stealing the show. They also might have been some of the largest brussels sprouts I've seen in my life.

We didn't gorge ourselves though, and I'm thankful for that. Especially since I got to enjoy the leftovers the next two days, and that beef made some damn good fajitas. But since we still had room for dessert, we headed downstairs for some gelato. I ordered salted caramel (of course) and Matt got Vanilla with Italian Cake. Both had a wonderful texture, being both smooth and creamy. The flavor of my gelato was wonderful, although I do like having a caramel river through my caramel gelato, and this was just plain, so I was mildly disappointed. I know, I'm spoiled. But in all seriousness, it was the best gelato I've had in the States.

The meal was the perfect end to a weekend full of fabulous food. Between Eataly, RPM, and of course, Girl and the Goat, I forgot that I'm on a college girl's budget. But it's back to reality as I eat my fried egg and toast for dinner. But I truly cannot wait to return.