Eataly World FICO: a look inside Italy's foodie theme park

Eataly World FICO: a first look at Italy's foodie theme park

Tom Shingler 13 November 2017

We were one of the first to experience Eataly World FICO – a huge theme park just outside Bologna where you can learn about and taste the incredible regional foods of Italy. Take a look at what's inside.

Tom Shingler

Tom Shingler is the editor of Great British Chefs.

Tom Shingler

Tom Shingler is the editor of Great British Chefs.

A theme park based solely around traditional food and drink complete with interactive exhibitions, dozens of restaurants, a gargantuan food hall and a flotilla of bright blue tricycles for getting about? It could only happen in Italy. But Eataly World FICO (FICO stands for Fabbrica Italiana Contadina, which means ‘Italian Farmer Factory’) is tipped to be a huge success, with an incredible three million people expected to visit the site every month. We travelled to the park, based twenty minutes from the centre of Bologna, to attend the official preview – and we were blown away by the scale of the project.

The first thing you have to get your head around is the sheer scale of the place – think of it as the Disneyland of food. It’s 100,000 square metres of pure, unadulterated food-focused fun, beautifully designed by the architect Thomas Bartoli. The main aim is to educate those visiting about Italy’s rich culinary landscape, get them to try the foods that make Italian cuisine famous and taste regional specialities all in one place. At first it sounds a bit mad – a theme park based around Italian food? – but after a short walk around the grounds, it soon becomes clear that this is a playground for any home cook interested in the country’s cuisine.

Eataly World FICO is the world's largest 'agri-food park', offering visitors an insight into how some of Italy's most famous foods are grown, reared and produced

The size of the park is hard to convey in pictures – it's akin to something like Disneyland Paris

In total the park spans 100,000 square metres, with two hectares of fields and stables, eight hectares of production rooms and forty-five restaurants

If you don't fancy walking the length of the park (which would take you some time), you can hop on one of the stylish trikes – complete with shopping basket – and zip from kiosk to kiosk

The vast majority of the food available to taste is made on-site in one of the park’s forty ‘factories’, all of which are glass-fronted so you can watch the action yourself. There are creameries, a brewery, an olive press, pasta shops, bakeries, gelaterias, butchers – there’s even someone making fresh artisan crisps. Everything you see being made is available to taste or buy, and the people working there are happy to share their stories and answer any questions you might have.

Being able to see the food and drink being produced on-site is one of the main attractions of Eataly World

Fresh pasta in all its forms is made fresh every day

It can be pretty mesmerising watching the experts at work, who can effortlessly turn golden dough into perfect examples of pasta

The pizza stand was certainly one of the most popular points in the park, with hundreds cooked in the wood-fired oven throughout the day

Folded into quarters and wrapped in a napkin, they proved to be the perfect snack for eating on-the-go

The bakery provided little tastes of various specialities from all over Italy, with larger loaves and sweet treats available to take home

Everyone working at Eataly World was fiercely proud of their food and drink, and more than happy to share their stories with the public

It's also a fantastic place to discover lesser-known delicacies, such as Confetti di Sulmona – colourful sugared almonds in a variety of flavours

Italy is home to so many different culinary traditions, it would take a lifetime to discover them all. But Eataly World does a great job of showing just how important they are to the country’s culture. Every one of Italy’s regions is represented, and even the nerdiest of foodies would discover plenty of new delicacies. The real attraction of the park, however, is that you can taste everything you learn about; the restaurants (some of which are operated by Michelin-starred chefs), street food stands and cafés offer food and drink to enjoy there and then. You can pick up a snack and eat it whilst you walk around the park, or enjoy a full three-course meal for lunch.

Everything you see in Eataly World is available to buy, and sampling the wares on offer is a must

Most of the food and drink is available as a little snack, leaving you plenty of room to taste lots of different delicious things

The number of pasta producers represented was particularly impressive

Even those working behind the counters were getting in on the action – this butcher was tasting a cheese from a nearby kiosk

Oive oil is well represented at Eataly World; it's made fresh and bottled on-site using a traditional olive press

You can see the oil-making process from start to finish, before tasting it for yourself at the end

Gelato comes courtesy of Carpigiani Gelato University, also based in Bologna

Love calamari? It's a speciality along the Amalfi coast, where lightly fried rings are served in a paper cone

Porchetta is Italy's ode to pork, and can be bought for as little as €6 (with a glass of wine or beer)

The marketplace covers 9,000 square metres, making it one of the best food halls we’ve ever visited. You can stock up on the very best artisanal food and drink to enjoy at a later date – there’s even an on-site post office, where they’ll package up your purchases and send them direct to your home. If you think your local supermarket has a decent collection of olive oils for sale, take a look at the aisle at Eataly World – we counted at least 100 different varieties, all from various regions of Italy.

Those in the mood for some shopping won't be disappointed – the 9,000 square metre marketplace has absolutely everything the home cook could ever want

The olive oil stand alone will keep you busy for a decent amount of time, with varieties from every region

Clear labels let you know exactly where everything on sale originates from

The best of Italian design is on offer in the marketplace, with brands such as Smeg and Alessi showcasing their products

These boxes of pasta are worth buying for the beautiful tin alone

Have a sweet tooth? There's a whole section of the park dedicated to desserts and pastries, resulting in a true feast for the eyes

Marzipan fruits from Sicily were among the most popular items

Fresh produce is given top billing too, with incredible heritage varieties of fruit and vegetables on display

Be sure to leave some space in your basket for these Italian-made tea towels – a sure-fire way to add some continental style to your kitchen

The number of wines for sale is astonishing – hundreds of bottles from every region can be tasted by the glass or bought to take home

Inside Eataly World are six ‘carousels’ – interactive exhibitions which focus on various aspects of food production. You can drive a CGI ship to different points on a map and discover which PDO-protected shellfish are landed there, or see what the future of food will bring via augmented reality headsets. You can even plant a seed in a hydroponic garden and watch it grow over the months via an app.

Outside you’ll find Eataly World’s farms, stables and gardens, home to 200 animals and 2,000 different plants. There’s even ‘Truffle World’, where you can go truffle hunting with trained dogs.

As well as the production kitchens and ability to talk to the people creating Italian food, there are six 'carousels' dotted around the park which act as interactive exhibitions shedding light on various aspects of agriculture and food production

Head outdoors and you'll get the chance to walk around the on-site farms, home to 200 animals and 2,000 different plants

Many of the animals are either endangered or rare breed species, famous for their flavour in certain areas of Italy

Think you know rice? Think again – even the simplest of ingredients are put in the spotlight

One of the most interesting things you can do at Eataly World is to take part in a truffle hunt, complete with trained truffle-hunting dogs

The park's gargantuan size means it would take more than a day to truly experience everything on offer, but be sure to stop at 100 Vini & Spuntini at the end for a glass of something nice and a little snack

Eataly World FICO officially opens on 15 November 2017 – it’s free to enter, and there are buses running from Bologna’s central train station to the park every day. The owners are currently building an on-site hotel, too, so those truly obsessed with Italian cuisine can base their whole holiday around the park. Anyone with even a passing interest in Italian food should plan a trip here – Eataly World might sound a little crazy, but it’s one of the best days out a foodie can have.

For more information visit eatalyworld.it/en.