Eataly Toronto announces opening date

The wait is nearly over.

Eataly will open its first Canadian location at Toronto’s Manulife Centre, a mix-use tower located at the bustling south-east corner of Bay and Bloor Street on November 13. The Italian food marketplace made the announcement on its Instagram page Monday morning.

Launched in 2007 in Turin, Italy, Eataly has more than 40 stores in locations such as Japan, Dubai, New York, Boston, Moscow and Seoul. Each location features restaurants, cafés, to-go eateries, fresh counters, more than 10,000 grocery products and a cooking school.

Eataly doesn’t follow a template when designing its stores, however. Instead, each location is designed based on feedback from locals and a concept is built out from there.

“Every store is born different,” said Ennio Perrone, vice-president of business strategy and marketing for Eataly North America, during a conference in Las Vegas last fall. “The design is the consequence of the experience, customer journey and brand values.”

For instance, the L.A. store includes a rooftop restaurant with a wood-burning grill and the Boston location has a heavy focus on seafood. But, in all locations the staff is “empowered to make sure they give the right experience to the right customers at their location,” he said.