Favorite Charcuterie Shops (To Go)?

Update:

Christmas ended up being a blur of hosting and events, I totally forgot to post about this, sorry. First off a big Thank You! to everyone who chimed in with suggestions for Charcuterie and Cheese selections! :slight_smile: Thanks @ebethsdad @ipsedixit @nashwill @Local @frommtron @aaqjr @hungryhungryhippos and others.

Despite it being so close to us, we have been avoiding Eataly for the longest time, hearing about the awful parking situation and mixed reports from everyone. I originally really wanted to go, but after the crazy reports here on FTC, it felt like a zoo I didn’t want to visit. But with this new Charcuterie need, we decided to stop by there first (since it was closest)…

Parking was indeed a madhouse. The Century City Parking Lot was completely full and they directed everyone to park in surrounding parking lots! Ugh. :frowning: At this point, we so just felt like driving away to other suggestions on this thread, but stuck it out and found parking in a neighboring lot.

Walking in, I can see the appeal of Eataly. It has so many different food-related “stations”, for Wine, Butchery, Imported Canned & Dry Goods and a plethora of Restaurant / Food Stalls.

But we were here for Charcuterie and Cheese selections. We had to remind ourselves to stay focused… :wink:

There was a line to get to the Charcuterie counter. 15+ minutes later, we arrived at the front. Luckily the person at the counter was super nice. He let us sample multiple cuts of Charcuterie and a few Cheeses as well (@TheCookie), so that made choosing the right cuts a bit easier (and tastier). :slight_smile:

They had 10 different types of Prosciutto alone, and some interesting offerings from various regions we hadn’t tried before:

We ended up getting for our Christmas Charcuterie Board:

  • Bresaola (Beef Charcuterie) from Washington: This was a recommendation by the person behind the counter, he said it was his favorite cut and it was indeed deeply beefy and flavorful. A nice contrast to the other Pork products. :slight_smile:

  • Soppressata: They had a beautiful, lightly spicy Soppressata.

  • Salami (forgot the exact name): I thought I had the receipt still, but couldn’t find it, but the nice charcuterie person recommended a Salami from a North American provider, and it was deeply porky and perfect to contrast with the other 2 selections. :slight_smile:

Then we chose a few Cheeses as well:

I believe the person said Eataly carries over 200(!) different types of Cheeses, which makes it a nice place to get all your choices done if you were short on time.

We ended up sampling and then getting:

  • Ossau-Iraty: A French-Basque Sheep’s Milk Cheese. This was wonderful! I loved the slightly funky flavor (like many Sheep’s Milk Cheeses), but mellows out and has a creaminess as you eat it. This was lovely! :heart:

  • Moses Sleeper (Jasper Hill Creamery): This Cow’s Milk Brie-Style Cheese was a hit at our dinner party. :slight_smile: So creamy, spreadable and devoured within the first 30 minutes of us putting it out, LOL.

  • Honeywax (San Pietro): From Vento, Italy, this Cow’s Milk Cheese is prepared and then coated in Beeswax to age and finish. The end result was incredible! :heart: Most of our FTC Cheese Masters probably know about this, but we hadn’t tried this before until now. There’s a good creamy, cheese foundation of course, but the finish is this incredible subtle Honey Beeswax flavor. This was another hit at the party. :blush: (@TheCookie)

We were only planning to pop in to try and see what we might get and try some of the other places like @ipsedixit and @Local’s recommended Milkfarm, but they were already sold out for the holidays (we called) and then Eataly sucked us in, but actually had enough selection (and free samples, letting us try a variety of Charcuterie and Cheeses before buying) that we ended up getting everything we needed here. :slight_smile:

Was it worth fighting the horrendous Holiday parking and crazy crowds? I’m not sure, but it all worked out in the end. Thanks @frommtron and everyone again! :blush:

Eataly L.A.
(in the Century City Mall)
10250 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90067
Tel: (213) 310-8000

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