Mario Batali says new Eataly will be specifically Southern Californian -- and Italian, of course

What to expect when Mario Batali and Joe and Lidia Bastianich finally open their just-announced Los Angeles chapter of Eataly at the Westfield Century City mall in 2017?

If you’ve been to the Chicago or New York stores, you probably have a pretty good idea -- but the L.A. spot will have a distinctly Southern California accent, including a possible contribution from Nancy Silverton.

“We love the opportunities that California offers us, from the local olive oils, to the immensely popular local wines and spirits,” Batali wrote in an email Tuesday afternoon.

“Eataly was almost born to celebrate the geo-specificity of the remarkable and unique bounty of America’s salad bowl. We are also very excited to have Los Angelena Nancy Silverton aboard for a focaccia concept and maybe more.”

The new store, announced Tuesday morning, will be about the same size as the two previous ones, roughly 50,000 square feet, not including outdoor and rooftop dining spaces -- options that aren’t feasible in those other cities.

As with the other Eatalys, it will include a collection of a couple of dozen markets that double as dining areas. The concept is that you can either buy the fish from the seafood monger or you can sit down and order off a menu that is sourced from the same ingredients.

“We cook what we sell and we sell what we cook,” according to a company statement. “We encourage customers to come in, have an amazing meal, ask the chef how the meal was made, buy the ingredients and replicate it at home. Our motto is: Eat, shop and learn!”

Multiply that out to include a salumeria, a pasta store, a butcher store and so on, and the dining and shopping options are impressive.

“Certainly the magnificent produce will have a sweet home, but Cali dairy (think of the cheeses!!) and seafood, (Petrale sole, Santa Barbara spot prawns and uni!) will be a big part of the local story as well as significant poultry and meat,” Batali wrote.

Eatalys are founded on the philosophy of being locally sourced, taking the best products of wherever they are located. Batali said that because of the Mozza connection (he and the Bastianiches are partners with Silverton in the restaurant complex), he’s got some local producers in mind, but wouldn’t be specific.

Asked which producers we could expect to see, he replied “About a million. We will very quickly identify the ones we love and the ones that will eventually grow exclusive products for us from Italian seeds as well as celebrate the plethora of unique local and delicious products.”

The arrival of the new Eataly had been long rumored but was only finally signed Tuesday. Batali says that’s because, despite a lot of online speculation, it didn’t become clear until just recently where they would land.

“We were torn between two locations and tried for the longest time to equalize the deals,” Batali wrote. “But in the end Westfield was far more interested in a long-term partnership and we felt best aligned with similar interests and brand building strategies.”

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