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It's a mall world, after all
By adamg on Tue, 11/29/2016 - 7:01pm
Reports are pouring in of long lines at the conjoined Prudential and Copley Place Malls - the former for the opening of its new Italian food court, the latter for an Alton Brown book signing at Williams-Sonoma. No word if the two malls' security forces are trying to keep the lines apart to avoid an implosion or worse.
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Comments
Eataly can't wait to shop
Eataly can't wait to shop there, hoping it will not drain my wallet..
Mmm, got some bad news for you there. But
it is fun, in the way that utter shitshows can be fun, based on a few visits to the Manhattan one.
Crocs, though: unspeakable.
Oh, it will drain your
Oh, it will drain your wallet. The Pru is doing a great job of pricing out regular people, teens, most of the workers that work in the actual building.
Ah yes
Gone are the days where the regular people could shop at Saks and dine at Legal Sea Food. Where will the go? How many other options could they possibly having working in the heart of a city?
I consider myself "one of the regulars"
but did not shop at Saks and/or dine at the Legal Sea Food chain. The options for a good cheap meal (other than McDonald's crap) are fast approaching a null set in the city, which is indeed, unfortunate.
Anna's Taqueria
is opening a spot right around the corner from Eataly so don't despair. And I didn't check prices on everything but I'm pretty sure the sandwiches etc will still come in at a pretty reasonable cost. Not to mention a bit healthier than Panda Express.
Anna's
I was happy to see the Anna's "coming soon" signs, but also surprised given the other recent changes to rest of the Pru Mall- now mostly occupied by more upscale retail. Even the little kiosks in the center are now LL Bean, some fancy French fragrance label, Crabtree and Evelyn, etc. The Body Shop disappeared and their former space is now occupied by Polo. I am wondering how long Sephora and Barnes and Noble can last in that environment.
Anna's Taqueria
accidental double post!
RIP Food Court
Personally, I will continue to miss the Pru Food Court. It was one of the best people watching places around. When the Pru renovated in the early '90s they had a a super large Marche restaurant, which kind of imploded under it's concept. I wonder if Eataly will suffer the same fate.
They really are bound and
They really are bound and determined to chase out all the riff-raff, aren't they? Except Copley Place and Newbury are both right there, so they're fighting to enter a sated market.
"Never cross the streams."
"Why?"
"It would be bad."
Security forces?
Embassies in SF, security forces in the Pru. Are there any black helicopter sightings in Boston that you're intentionally not reporting, Adam?
Well, you know ...
Even pilots of black helicopters gotta eat sometime.
Geez - for a moment, I
Geez - for a moment, I thought the sign read 'Fatally' : (
Eataly line was nuts
The Italy line was nuts. Security had to create an extra line people had to wait in before getting into the actual line.
Inside was a zoo and I bet it will be like that for all of December. The staff was great and energetic and treated the throngs of people with enthusiasm. It may not be an everyday place to shop for most of us, but people who are into food and specialty gourmet retail should carve out some time to check it out.
Plenty of good local names represented there, too:
the Moody's folks, Island Creek, Barbara Lynch doing Italian seafood, Dan Bazzinnoti from BISq, Stillman's.
Still some hard feelings among industry folks over Batali skimming millions in tips from his NYC employees, though. He's a good chef and a brilliant businessman, but that was an unconscionable dick move.
For people who know the
For people who know the Boston food world better than me- is this just the repackaging of the same names/vendors from the Boston Public Market in a more upscale form?
No. Boston Public Market by definition carries only local
vendors, mostly MA plus some Greater New England, no further than that.
Eataly includes a few local purveyors and one restaurant (Il Pesce, Barbara Lynch's seafood place), but also a lot of the retail and restaurant space affiliated with the Batali/Bastianich parent company, plus a ton of imported goods and artisanal wares from all over the country.
Conceptually they're not dissimilar: retail and takeout foods with some sit-down space. Eataly Boston also includes a couple of more formal table-service restaurants (Lynch's plus a Batali one opening in the spring).
Most of it is imported from
Most of it is imported from Italy I think
hmm
Is Boston ready for I-talian food?
No thanks
I visited the one in NYC. It was a tourist trap zoo. If I need to buy Barilla pasta, I'll go to Star Market.
Useful guide to Eataly's features and layout in
this Boston Magazine piece. They project doing $45M in annual sales, phew!