Imagine being set loose in a marketplace full of traditional Italian food. That may sound like something that can only happen in Italy, but on April 29, culinary students will experience that right here in Chicago.

63 culinary students are going downtown on a field trip to Eataly, a Italian marketplace in Chicago, IL. According to Eataly’s website, Eataly Chicago boasts 23 eateries, seven of which are sit-down restaurants. The rest of the restaurants are set up in a marketplace design.

“I think it is going to be really fun. We are going to Eataly downtown, and I’m looking forward to checking out all the different restaurants. It’s basically a big farmers market with all Italian food,” Elly Daleske, junior and Creative Cooking student, said. “In class, we do different regions of the world, like Italy, China, Mexico. When we aren’t doing competitions, we do around the world cuisine, so I’m excited to experience this Italian food.”

The Creative Cooking students focus on cooking food from around the world, including Italy, which is why the Eataly field trip is so exciting to the students. In addition to studying regions of the world, Daleske said the students also do food wars and cook for the staff.

“Creative Cooking is a really fun class. We do cooking competitions, like different food wars. Also every Thursday we make food for the staff. It’s called ‘Stuff the Staff.’ Teachers will email [Marie] Baker, [Family and Consumer Science teacher], recipes and we will make it. Each section gets different food. It’s usually cookies or brownies.”