Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Mario Batali, Lidia and Joe Bastianich, and Oscar Farinetti today opened Eataly, a major new Italian food destination in New York City's Flatiron District. Eataly features seven full-service eateries, a café, wine shop, bakery and patisserie, rooftop beer garden, a culinary educational center and a large-scale Italian food and wine marketplace. New York City helped launch Eataly through the New Business Acceleration Team program Mayor Bloomberg announced in his 2010 State of the City address. The Acceleration Team makes it easier to launch new restaurants, bars, bakeries and butcher shops in New York City by cutting red tape and helping entrepreneurs navigate the City's regulatory environment. Since launching the program, the City has helped more than 140 restaurants open throughout the five boroughs, with Eataly as the largest to date. The City's Department of Small Business Services helped place New Yorkers in Eataly's 300 permanent jobs through its NYC Business Solutions recruitment program. Mayor Bloomberg and the Eataly creators were joined at the announcement at the 200 Fifth Avenue location by Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, Small Business Services Commissioner Robert W. Walsh, Madison Square Park Conservancy President Debbie Landau, Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership Executive Director Jennifer Brown, and Italian civic leaders, including Liguria President Claudio Burlando, Turin Mayor Sergio Chiamparino, Alba Mayor Maurizio Marello, Barolo Mayor Walter Mazzocchi and Bra Mayor Bruna Sibille.

"New York City's economy is growing faster than the nation's, and some of the reasons are that entrepreneurs continue to believe in - and invest in - New York, that new destinations continue to open and generate excitement, and that people from across the world continue to come here at a record pace," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Eataly is the latest example of a new destination that has helped fuel New York City's resurgence and will continue to for a long time to come. Our Administration pledged to make it easier for new businesses like Eataly to open, and we have. Through our New Business Acceleration Team program we cut 15 weeks from Eataly's launch time, and through our NYC Business Solutions recruitment program we helped place New Yorkers in Eataly's 300 new permanent jobs. Congratulations to Mario Batali and the Eataly partners on the opening of New York City's newest destination."

"We are extremely happy to open the most important grocery store in the world in the most important city in America, and we are happy to share the beauty of the Italian culture and table with the most sophisticated people on the planet," said Mario Batali.

"The best of Italy comes to the greatest city in the world," said Joe Bastianich. "Thank you, New York, for welcoming Eataly."

"New Yorkers are always hungry to learn and taste something new and certainly Eataly will offer just that," said Lidia Bastianich. "Make yourself at home, we invite you to Eataly's table and to the bountiful Italian delights you will find. Buon appetito!"

"We continue to help New Yorkers get jobs through our NYC Business Solutions and Workforce1 Career Center programs at a record pace, and Eataly is the latest example, where we helped more than 200 New Yorkers get jobs," said Small Business Services Commissioner Walsh. "Our services help businesses like Eataly get off the ground by doing the time-consuming and often expensive work of recruiting candidates and sorting through resumes. And we help New Yorkers looking for jobs by providing job training and job placement services."

The New Business Acceleration Team worked with Con Edison and the Department of Transportation to expedite the installation of new piping and gas connectivity, coordinated with the Landmarks Preservation Commission to have interior and exterior plans reviewed and approved, facilitated plan review and inspection approval with the Department of Buildings and the Fire Department on construction, plumbing, fire suppression, and Certificate of Occupancy approval, and assisted in the coordination of the various inspections Eataly needed before opening. In total, the team helped Eataly reduce its launch time by 15 weeks.

New York City helped Eataly fill its 300 positions through the NYC Business Solutions recruitment program and Workforce1 Career Center services. Over the past five months, the City held more than 30 recruitment events, screened thousands of resumes, and interviewed hundreds of candidates. The program helped fill positions ranging from executive administration to food service.

Located in the Flatiron District at 200 Fifth Avenue, formerly the iconic Toy Building, Eataly encompasses 42,500 square feet of restaurant and retail space and a 4,500 square-foot open-air rooftop beer garden. The seven Eataly restaurants include Le Verdure (vegetable), Il Manzo (meat), Il Pesce (fish), La Pasta (pasta), La Pizza (pizza), I Salumi e I Formaggi (salumi and cheese), and Il Crudo (raw bar). The rooftop beer garden, La Birreria, will serve a range of beers year-round as well as a variety of pizzas and sausages, and Lavazza Café will serve espressos, cappuccinos, gelato and pastries. The pasticceria counter will also serve several petite desserts called dolci al cucchiaio ("spoon desserts"). Eataly's retail marketplace will offer a variety of cured meats, cheeses, fruits and vegetables, fresh meats and fish, handmade pastas, desserts, baked goods, coffees and teas, Italian dried pastas, canned goods, sauces, olive oils, vinegars and a selection of housewares and books. Many of the fresh products come from the New York metropolitan area, including all of the milk, eggs and flour. David Pasternack, executive chef of New York's Esca restaurant, will oversee Eataly's fresh fish and seafood selection, which will come through New York City's Fulton Fish Market at Hunt's Point.

Eataly's La Scuola culinary education center will offer special events occurring year-round, including food and wine courses, demonstrations and lectures led by accredited instructors, renowned chefs, winemakers and producers from the best farms in the world. Participants can learn how to make fresh mozzarella, roll out pasta dough and bake focaccia. La Scuola Dean Lidia Bastianich, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich will also lead classes throughout the year. Curriculum content will emphasize cooking with high quality, artisanal products, seasonal and local ingredients and recipes that may be duplicated at home. Classes will also go beyond cooking, focusing on the nutritional, sociological and scientific aspects of food.