First of all, if you’ve never been to an Eataly, get there. Since you’re reading this, you obviously appreciate the best of Italian cuisine (cannoli!), so you’re bound to love this emporium dedicated to the very best of Italy. Opened first in Torino in 2007, Eataly now brings the best eats of Italy to over 35 big cities around the world. Seriously, check it out.
Beyond all the groceries in the marketplace, the meats, cheeses, gelatos and pizzas, on the main floor in Chicago you’ll find Caffé Lavazza – and just across the tables is the Pastry and Cannoli Bar. All day long, they fill crunchy cannoli shells right before your eyes with freshly-whipped sweet ricotta fillings – either traditional, pistachio or chocolate.
Pick your fillings and toppings and their pastry chefs fill your cannoli shells to order. Too hard to decide? Take home a DIY Cannoli Kit — it contains 12 shells and all the toppings and fillings!
Tutto Cannoli Rating
–Squisito!–
Shell
Classic, Crisp and Golden.
The Lezza family has been bringing the flavors of Italy to Chicagoland since Salvatore opened shop on the West Side in 1905. He handed his Old World secrets down through the years, and now the 4th and 5th generations are leading the business. These are the folks that craft the shells daily and deliver them to Eataly. Exactly who we’d want to do it.
Filling
Eataly workers fill the shells with sweet ricotta, a rich and creamy cow’s milk cheese from Calabro, a Sicilian family-owned and operated cheese company in Connecticut. This filling is perfect on its own, but also is available flavored with toasted Sicilian pistachios or dark chocolate chips (70%).
Delicious.
Toppings
For the final touch, they of course dip the ends in toppings before the obligatory powdered sugar dusting. You can have candied orange peel, toasted Sicilian pistachios or dark chocolate shavings (70%).
Side note – and way at the top of my list of places to spend an afternoon – the Eataly in New York City’s Flatiron District offers probably way too many options: 2 shells – classic or chocolate-covered, with your choice of 9 flavors of sweet ricotta, including both cow’s milk ricotta and the traditional Sicilian sheep’s milk ricotta, imported from Palermo. Then, they roll the cannolo in your choice of 17 different toppings! Daydream this: menu
Overall Experience
About as good as it gets in Midwest USA. I loved being able to enjoy mine with a cappuccino from the Caffé Lavazza – but depending on the time of day, a Sicilian vino pairing might be just right. Moscato d’Asti if you ask me.
Eataly is an overwhelming experience and the cannoli measure up. Great care is taken to present locally fresh ingredients at the highest standards – superb!
Check it out:
Lezza Spumoni & Desserts, Inc.
Eataly NYC Cannoli Bar video – how they do it!