Sublime prime rib sandwich at Eataly in Chicago

We obviously didn’t get enough meat stuffed in between bread because after the hot dog and roast beef sandwich at Portillo’s, we made our way over to Eataly and split a prime rib sandwich.Eataly is the Italian food mecca behind the brains of celebrity chef Mario Batali and the former judge from my season of MasterChef, Joe Bastianich. (In fact, the original Eataly location in New York was where our official season finale party was held.) Eataly is a massive food paradise—think a multiple-storied gastronomic mall. There are different “storefronts” and “stalls” offering everything Italian from parmagiano and salumi to pastas to gelato and espressos.Our friend raved that Eatal makes a mean prime rib sandwich, so naturally, we ordered one to share in spite of our stuffed bellies. The sandwich had perfectly cooked prime rib drizzled with good olive oil and served in a crusty Italian bread. The sandwich sounded so simple, but there was some oomph to it. Turns out they put a porcini rub on the meat. Ah, yes, porcini always adds complementary umami to beef.We stood at a high-boy table gobbling up the sandwich and licking our fingers clean. Then we ventured over to the cookbook section and found two MasterChef winners’ cookbooks: Luca Manfé’s and Courtney Lapresi’s but not mine! Guess you need to be Italian to have a cookbook at Eataly…Eataly, I forgive you, but only because your prime rib sandwich was divine.Eataly43 E. Ohio St. (At N. Wabash Ave.)Chicago, IL 60611Phone: +1 312 521-8700