New Eataly outlet to open in Paris

(ANSA) - Paris, April 10 - High-end Italian food market and restaurant chain Eataly will open a new outlet in the Marais district of Paris on Friday.
    The store - built over 4,000 square meters including 2,600 which are open to the public - will be open seven days a week until midnight and until 2 am from Thursday to Sunday.
    "Each one of our stores becomes part of a context", said founder Oscar Farinetti.
    "We want to dedicate this one in Paris to fraternité".
    Decoration work for the outlet was in full swing when a political and diplomatic crisis between Rome and Paris escalated over the last few months.
    However, Farinetti expressed optimism "because in our other stores worldwide the most numerous visitors from abroad are French".
    The Galeries Lafayette group has an exclusive franchise deal to operate the Eataly brand in France.
    Half of the items sold at the store will be Italian and the other half French with original products including a French replica of the iconic Italian mozzarella buffalo cheese made with French milk and produced in the 12th arrondissement of Paris every morning to be sold at the Eataly Marais.
    Overall, a total of 1,500 Italian products will be on sale at the outlet, which will include seven restaurants.
    A total of 1,200 Italian wine labels will be on offer in "the largest Italian wine cellar in Paris", said Farinetti.
    The store will employ 300 workers. The Parisian outlet of Eataly - which has stores worldwide including in Dubai and New York - will include a Neapolitan-style coffee shop and an ice cream parlor with specialties made by high-end chocolate manufacturer Venchi.
    The 'Bar Torino' overlooking the square Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie will offer aperitifs with 'focaccia' and pasta.
    A bakery will sell a wide range of pizzas, from the thin roman-style variety, to the Genoese 'focaccia'.
    Celebrated French butcher Yves-Marie le Bourdonnec will cooperate with Piedmont-based meat producers who are part of the Granda consortium to offer top-quality meats.
    Parma prosciutto ham and Roman pecorino cheese will be among specialties in the department "Salumi e formaggi", cold cuts and cheeses.
    An open-air market with top Italian produce, ranging from Roman artichokes to Sicilian tomatoes and fresh peas, is expected to be a major attraction, along with an Italian cooking school.