Photo by singing beagle.

The collaborators behind the mega Italian food-and-drink emporium Eataly are hoping to open outposts in Washington and Los Angeles, with one of them launching by the end of 2012. Partner Joe Bastianich (son of TV chef Lidia) tells the Huffington Post that both locations will match or surpass the size of the original 40,000-square-foot New York branch, and will feature a wine store, beer garden, bakery, grocery store and restaurants.

There are big names and a lot of star power behind the venture. But our reaction to Eataly is perhaps more muted than most. The powerful partners behind the venture that includes Chef Mario Batali should bring unique Italian specialties to D.C. But from what we’ve seen of Eataly’s beer and wine programs, your best bet might be to go for the food and skip the booze.

Beer
From all appearances, the beer selection looks disappointing for an operation of Eataly’s size and buying power. A scan of the menu at Birreria shows good beers, but not much new to D.C. Despite the existence of plenty of delicious Italian beers, the variety on the list is fairly limited. Odds are that you could show up at Churchkey on any night and find a larger variety of Italian beers in their book and on their draft list. The list of bottles is half Dogfish Head beers that you can easily find at many of the good beer shops around town. Indeed, the main attraction is likely to be the beers brewed in partnership with Dogfish Head — but until they get their brewery up and running, they serve house drafts specially brewed by the Delaware outfit — but typically, those tend to be mild variations on existing beers in the portfolio.

Wine
D.C. is known for having excellent artisanal Italian wine wholesalers and retailers with deep programs, much like New York. But the majority of Eataly’s selections come from large wine producers that can easily be picked up anywhere. Perhaps this meets the needs of individuals who visit and feel that they should be able to get the same wines every single time — something more easily accomplished with wineries that produce large quantities. But that defeats the purpose of a specialty wine store managed by professionals with a lot of wine knowledge — providing the opportunity to taste special wines from small producers and find funky treats.

With the somewhat corporate approach to the beer and wine programs, we’re a bit concerned about what we’ll see in the rest of Eataly. Nonetheless, it’s hard not to get excited by the mouthwatering photos we’ve seen of the food inside the restaurants.

However, with the recent openings of Fiola and Graffiato, along with numerous other restaurants and specialty markets on the horizon, we’re skeptical about whether Eataly can surpass what we have in D.C. now with respect to quality, value and that something special. Then again, we wouldn’t be sad to have one more option.