DDL Foodshow
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DDL Food Show was an Italian specialty foods store with the three locations, two in New York City and one in Beverly Hills in Los Angeles. They were opened in the early 1980s and owned and operated by the film producer Dino De Laurentiis.
The first store was opened in the restored palm court in the ornate lobby of the Endicott Hotel on Manhattan's Upper West Side in close proximity to the older establishment, Zabar's food emporium on Broadway.[1] The first NYC store opened in November 1982, and it was reported that the store "opened to crowds of 30,000 over the Thanksgiving weekend, when de Laurentiis himself greeted customers at the door." The store's assistant manager said that "it was like the premiere of a movie."[2]
Food critic Gael Greene wrote a scathing review on the opening in New York.[1] In an interview with The Chicago Tribune a month later, she admitted that the store was "probably the most stunningly handsome grocery in the world, certainly in New York," but "the pricing was insane. They hadn't paid enough attention to the competition." She reported that she'd talked to De Laurentiis: "Dino's reaction was that I'm full of it. And we're meeting over a bowl of pasta to discuss it."[3] A review in The San Francisco Examiner said that it was "worth a peek and a purchase."[4]
DDL Foodshow was later considered to be a forebear of the new Italian specialty goods food-store restaurant dining attraction Eataly.
References
- ^ a b Greene, Gael, "Dino's Food Show", New York Magazine, December 20,1982. Cf. p.82.
- ^ Mink, Claudia Gellman (March 7, 1983). "Food's the Star In New De Laurentiis Show". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. D1. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
- ^ Daniels, Mary (January 16, 1983). "Are discriminating New Yorkers going to buy this deli with a difference?". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
- ^ Alexander, Dick (September 4, 1983). "DDL isn't your run-of-the-meal delicatessen". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
External links
- Sheraton, Mimi, "DDL FOODSHOW: A TASTER FINDS IT'S GOOD, AND NOT SO GOOD", The New York Times, May 4, 1983, WednesdayLate City Final Edition, Section C, Page 1, Column 1
- Sifton, Sam, "Eataly Offers Italy by the Ounce", The New York Times, October 19, 2010