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.
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More than a year later, Le District has succeeded. All four districts are fully operational and offer an astounding array of French imported products and on-site creations—made from locally sourced ingredients when possible. The Café District features a cre- perie, patisserie, coffee and tea bar, ice cream station, and a branch of La Cure Gourmande, a French sweets shop selling chocolates and cookies. The Market District includes a fromagerie (imported and locally made cheeses range from under $10 per pound to more than $30), a charcuterie (which makes all of its delicacies, including boar and venison pate), a rotisserie (a serving of beef bourginon goes for $12; rosemary marinated lamb is $13), a poissonerie, and a bou- langerie for fresh sandwiches, soups, and other grab-and-go items in the $10 range. The Garden District contains a juice bar, salad bar, coffee and pastry station, plus a mini supermarket-style grocery department for fruits and vegetables, eggs, beer, wine, frozen meals, and other staples. The hopping Restaurant District includes Beaubourg, a casual brasserie open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with an out- door section and Le Bar, for imported French wine and cocktails. Earlier this year, Le District's cozy chef 's table, L'Appart ("the apart- ment") began taking reservations. A beer garden is set to open on the terrace by summer. Le District is chic and well designed, but it can get crowded at peak hours. While many of its patrons live or work in the increasing- ly residential Financial District or make their homes in the upscale border neighborhoods of Tribeca or Battery Park City, tourists are Among the original purveyors are ramen noodle legend Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop, where customers happily hunch over bowls of noodles ($13) with creative add-ons like toasted nori and pork belly. The Cannibal is a charcuterie with bar-style seating pumping out small plates like tuna tartare ($16) and country pate ($11) as well as bourbons, whiskeys, and more than 200 global beers. El Colmado recreates a Spanish tapas bar and serves simple, hearty fare such as a selection of artisanal Spanish cured meats ($15). Lines form at the Brooklyn-based Ample Hills Creamery's ice cream stand, where employees scoop funky, all-natural f lavors like Butterscotch Sundae (small cup, $4.95). Gotham West Market isn't an enormous space, but there is plenty of open table seating in the center of the hall. Some vendors have their own (tiny) seating areas, or patrons dine bar-style facing the street, where they can eat, drink, and watch the sidewalk show in this sleek corner of a once-gritty factory neighborhood. Gotham West Market, 600 11th Avenue, Manhattan. gothamwestmarket.com Financial District: Le District 30,000 square feet of France can be found in this hall in lower Manhattan. When Le District opened its doors in March 2015, it was hailed by Francophiles and foodies alike as the Eataly of French cuisine. Its unique design featuring separate "districts" was meant to recreate the intimacy of food-shopping in France—inside a space on the ground floor of luxury Financial District shopping mall Brookfield Place. Le District The Pennsy SUMMER 2016 133