Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://specialtyfoodmagazine.epubxp.com/i/328566
Eataly Chefs Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich, and Joe Bastianich helped start the stateside food hall trend in 2010 when they opened New York's Eataly, a retail concept inspired by and representing the vast cuisine of Northern Italy. Steps from Madison Square Park, this sprawling, 50,000-square-foot artisanal superstore is engineered to make you eat your way through the foods of Italy as you wander through a maze of eateries, bars, bakeries, gelato shops, and endless alcoves featuring cookbooks, housewares, and thousands of specialty food products. "The selection on a whole is unique," says Simona Picco, Eataly's head products buyer. She carries more than 300 types of dried pasta, including rare finds like pici, thick spaghetti from Tuscany. Up to 200 labels of olive oil—primarily monovarietals from small producers—are organized by region. An emphasis on freshness is evident in the store's layout. The butcher selling Piedmontese beef is within view of meat-centric restaurant Manzo; enoteca La Piazza is nestled beside the counter serving house-made mozzarella and charcuterie; the produce counter, where the "vegetable butcher" preps purchases, stands beside season- ally focused Le Verdure. "It all goes along with the education factor we believe in," says Picco. Otherwise, "It's just an item on the shelf." BUT THAT'S NOT ALL … The Big Apple is just getting started with its food hall fanaticism. Here are a few more projects kicking off or in the works, featuring some of the biggest—and youngest—names on the culinary landscape. Anthony Bourdain's Global Street Food Market. While the exact location, opening date, and name are yet to be announced, a few savory details have been leaked about Bourdain's newest project. The former line cook–turned– world traveler is planning a massive, bazaar-style market inspired by Singapore's street food scene. From Chinese lamb noodles to Mexican tostadas, authentic bites will be peddled at this market of more than 40 stalls curated by the CNN "Parts Unknown" TV host. Cafe El Presidente. Eataly has a new neighbor. This two-story, 6,500-square-foot space, which opened in May, aims to replicate a traditional Mexican marketplace where customers explore stores and restaurants in one open space. At its epicenter is a taqueria, accompanied by an artisanal tortillaria and a shop brimming with authentic Mexican ingredients. This summer, a seafood restaurant, Mariscos Madison, will open in the basement space. Hudson Food Hall. Terence Park, owner of the Bread & Butter deli chain, says he's teaming up with 18-year-old chef prodigy Greg Grossman on a "culinary-driven" project named Hudson Food Hall with locations in TriBeCa and Park Avenue South. Park recently told the Commercial Observer he wants to create a "true New York food experience" with this new venture—one that offers more character than the traditional food court. South Street Seaport Food Market. A lower Manhattan seaport building that once housed the historic Fulton Fish Market has been proposed as the site of a new food hall. While city reps and community organizations hash out how the developer's plan will preserve the site's landmark status and cultural history, pop-up food markets curated by New Amsterdam Market maintain the charm of this historic cobblestone-laced district. Hudson Eats SUMMER 2014 135 storeTour-FoodHalls.indd 135 6/4/14 2:48 PM