Eataly's Vegetable Butcher Lightens Kitchen Work for Customers

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Eataly’s vegetable butcher lightens kitchen work for customers

May 9, 2016

Oscar Farinetti, the founder and creator of Eataly, got his start at UniEuro in 1978, a small appliance and food retail store in Italy. He focused on electronics and transformed UniEuro into one of the largest electronics retailers in Italy, opening 150 stores from 1978 to 2003.

Farinetti sold UniEuro in 2003 and dedicated himself full time to Eataly. In January 2007, he converted a closed vermouth factory in Turin, Italy, and converted it into a 30,000-square-foot store. The store joins elements of the lively European open market and a learning center. Farinetti’s goal was to make high-quality Italian foods available to everyone, at fair prices and in an environment where people can shop, taste and learn.

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Eataly’s produce section features locally grown and seasonal fruits and vegetables, in addition to specialty itemsIn August 2010, Eataly opened its first store in the U.S. The 50,000 square-foot emporium devoted to the food and culinary tradition of Italy is located on Fifth Avenue in New York City, across from Madison Square Park.

Chef Mario Batali and partner, Joe Bastianich, along with his mother, Chef Lidia Bastianich, joined forces with Farinetti to open and promote Eataly in the United States.

Eataly’s produce section features locally grown and seasonal fruits and vegetables, in addition to specialty items. It partners with Baldor Specialty Foods in the Bronx from which it sources produce and fresh flowers.

The idea of a vegetable butcher began when Batali and artist, Jennifer Rubell, who has created many works of art with food items, engaged in a conversation about fresh produce over dinner and more than a couple bottles of wine. The chat ignited an idea about putting a vegetable butcher in Eataly who would offer services like peeling, chopping, slicing or other forms of fruit and vegetable preparation, and do it free of charge. Rubell was the first vegetable butcher.

Located adjacent to the produce department, the vegetable butcher cuts and cleans produce, and responds to customers’ questions about vegetable preparation or cooking.

“All of our vegetable butchers are trained on-site,” said Fitz Tallon Eataly’s executive chef. “Our vegetable butchers are also responsible for preparing the sampling of seasonal fruits and vegetables.”

He noted that demand for the veggie butcher’s services has continued to grow since first it was first introduced. The butchers work on rotation so there is always one available.

Just like if you took the produce item home and prepared it yourself, you pay for the entire product, not just the cleaned and prepared part. Peels, seeds and other waste removed from the produce item is put in a separate bag and both are weighed and paid for when customers’ check out.

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