THE NEW YORK TIMES: How an Eataly Executive Spends HIs Sundays
By Andrew Cotto
Published Nov. 6, 2020
Dino Borri comes from the northern Italian town of Bra, the home of Bra cheese and the Slow Food movement. He worked as an event
coordinator for the movement’s international organization, which
is based there, until 2008.
Around that time, he was tapped to be a project manager for Eataly, established a year earlier in Turin. Mr. Borri became the first employee to work outside of Italy when he established Eataly in Tokyo. In 2011, he moved on to New York as the vice president of global partnerships for Eataly USA.
Despite the pandemic (or maybe because of it, since so many New Yorkers are cooking these days), Mr. Borri is getting ready for a busy holiday season.
“The store is full of panettone and gift boxes, and we are preparing a ‘Mercatino di Natale,’ a holiday market,” he said.
“We want to have a normal holiday season, but we want also to respect the
rules,” he continued. “We are thinking very much of the motto of Carlo Petrini,
our good friend and the founder of Slow Food: ‘Good, clean and fair,’ except we
add ‘safe’ to this.”
Mr. Borri, 41, lives with his wife, Celine Adotevi, who is French of Beninese origin and works for an international organization, and their daughter, Edem, 5, in the West Village of Manhattan.
BEAUTIFUL MUSIC My wife and I wake up at 8:30 or so, and we like to lay around in bed until Edem is up. Then we have what I call an Italian breakfast. Something simple, classic Italian coffee and a pastry. It’s interesting in our
home in the morning, as I am talking to Edem in Italian, and my wife is talking to
her in French. She talks to us in both languages but also in English. It is a kind
of beautiful music.
FATHER/DAUGHTER TIME Around 10 is when my daughter and I leave my wife to have her alone time. Edem and I go from our home to the park on Bleecker and Hudson Street. We play together for maybe an hour until Celine comes to meet us. We like to walk from there to the Whitney Museum to see any new exhibits. On the way, we stop at secondhand stores, where I try to find things
cool and old. Also now, always, we go to [the clothing store] Lingua Franca,
where Edem has a new friend, Margeaux, who explained to Edem the murals of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which she likes very much because it says something very positive about America.
EATALY FOR LUNCH Of course, I am at Eataly every day for work, and I take my lunch there every day, as well, but I like to go on the weekend, too, because I want to make sure everything is OK with the people who are working then. It has been very hard for workers in retail during the coronavirus, and also our store had damage during the protests, so it’s important for me to see our people and for them to see me. It’s also nice, I think, for them to know I have a nice family.
SURROUNDED BY BOOKS We eat sometimes on the roof at Serra and sometimes outside at Il Patio, and maybe we bring pizza across the street to Madison Square Park. Right after lunch, we like to stop at Rizzoli Bookstore near Eataly because we work closely with them, and they also have books from all around the world, which is very nice for our unique family. Rizzoli, of course, is Italian, so it is best for me, but there are books for all of us. We don’t buy every time, but it is pleasant to be there in such a beautiful room surrounded by books from all over the world.
ISLAND ESCAPE Usually, we are done with brunch and Rizzoli by 2:30
or so, and we now take the R subway to Whitehall Station to find the ferry to Governors Island. On the island we like to tour the green spaces and the parks
for playing. Edem is also learning to ride a bicycle, so we rent a bike and help her practice. We stay for a few hours and then take the ferry back to Lower Manhattan before it is dark.
EATALY FOR DINNER Because Eataly has two locations in Manhattan, and also because Eataly Downtown is close to the ferry stop, we make a habit of having an early dinner near the World Trade Center, which we know is a very sacred spot in New York. We usually have something casual at La Pizza e La Pasta, and then we shop for groceries to have at home for the first few days of the week. At home, we help Edem prepare for school and have her in bed by 8:00.
BEDTIME READING After that, Celine and I read until we fall asleep. I read a lot of different books, some in English, some in Italian. It depends on what mood I am in. I like historical books, biographies. I have a lot of food books. I like to buy new food books to understand the trends and what people are doing. And I love newspapers. I have the Times and Wine Spectator. I love The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker. It takes me about an hour or an hour and a half to fall asleep.
You rule, dude!