Discover Eataly: A Culinary Haven in Rome’s Ostiense District

The temple of high-quality food and Made in Italy brands is located in the heart of the Ostiense district. Eataly has become, in just a few years, the reference point for food and wine enthusiasts and design lovers in the food and beverage sector, situated in a place born in the early 1990s for a purpose completely different from its current one. What purpose? We’ll reveal it in a few lines…

Are you looking for a place that combines architecture, contemporary design, and high-quality food and wine? Eataly is definitely what you’re looking for, a contemporary culinary emporium where you can find everything you’re searching for. The structure hosting this gastronomic temple is characterized by an imposing barrel vault, a clear homage to Roman architecture and ancient baths, with their grand arches; the use of materials typical of the industrial era such as concrete, glass, and iron is instead a reference to the early 20th-century railway stations.

The History of the Air Terminal

Inauguration and Decline to its Rebirth What’s most striking is that this building was not at all built to house the temple of Made in Italy food. This structure, called the Air Terminal, was actually built for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. The grand project was entrusted to the architect Lafuente and was supposed to connect Fiumicino Airport with the Ostiense district by rail, but it soon became apparent that the organizers’ estimates, which predicted traffic of 30,000 people during the World Cup, were decidedly wrong. The actual passenger traffic passing through the Air Terminal was far lower, and soon this “Cathedral in the desert” was gradually abandoned to its fate. It should be noted that in the late ’80s and ’90s, the Garbatella/Ostiense district was rather decentralized from the center and was not frequented and admired as it is now. After Italia ’90, Ferrovie dello Stato sold the building to private investors; there were years of decline and decay until other private investors bought the building to give it a second life, becoming the home of Eataly.

What to Do and See at Eataly

Visitors, once inside this food temple, are always literally amazed because they are faced with every possible offering of food, drinks, kitchen accessories, books: in short, the quintessence of Made in Italy in the food and wine field. Visitors can shop, choosing from the thousands of products on the shelves and counters scattered across the various floors of the building, but they can also taste on-site the delicacies prepared directly inside and offered in themed corners, from appetizers to first courses, meat and seafood dishes, pizza, ending with desserts.

A Precise Philosophy

At Eataly, food is the absolute protagonist, the perfect tool for introducing the public, tourists and locals alike, to the philosophy that underpins Italian cuisine. If you decide to stay near the Ostiense district, a stop here is definitely a must!

Photo credits: @Cucciola-Missa on Tripadvisor