Eataly Los Angeles Opening

It's an Italian food wonderland worth braving the 405 freeway for

Eataly, Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich's utopia dedicated to all things Italian food, is opening its doors on Friday, November 3, in Century City's Westfield mall. With 67,000 square feet of carbs, meat and cheese, it might just be one of the few things we'd brave traffic on the 405 freeway for.

Aside from the three floors of provisions (think: hand-pulled mozzarella from Di Stefano, butchers hawking Flintstone-sized bistecche and hills of freshly rolled pasta), there will be plenty of spots to grab a meal: two cafés, nine takeaway food counters and four restaurants, including a rooftop patio to take advantage of the city's 364 days of sunshine. Meanwhile, Bastianich, the fairy godmother of Italian cooking, has curated an in-depth curriculum for the downstairs cooking school. 

With Felix Trattoria in nearby Venice nabbing the number one spot on Esquire's Best Restaurants in America list, this West Coast outpost will only cement L.A.'s status as the country's newest hub for great Italian food.