Specialty Food Magazine

Summer 2016

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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EDITOR'S LETTER The New Restaurant Experience SUMMER 2016 1 SPECIALTY FOOD ASSOCIATION MEMBERS: Discuss this topic in the Solution Center on specialtyfood.com I f ever there was a game-changer for how consumers experience meals, the rise of the food hall is it. In cities where the dining-out buzz was once around the hot new restaurant with the months-long reservation wait, it now increasingly centers on the latest food hall opening. Denise Purcell Editor, Specialty Food Magazine dpurcell@specialtyfood.com Recent years have brought Latinicity in Chicago, Krog Street Market in Atlanta, Ga., The Source in Denver, Colo., and Cigar Factory in Charleston, S.C. New Orleans' St. Roch market plans to expand to a new location in Nashville, Tenn., and potentially four more cities. Food-hall enthusiasm is hit- ting suburban areas too, like the new Exit 4 Food Hall in Mt. Kisco, N.Y. As part of the gourmet fast-casual rise, these halls have ushered in a new approach to dining out. Consumers—young- er ones in particular—are drifting from long, pricey, multi- course feasts to casual, less-expensive meals in a communal setting, complete with exciting global menus. Much like food trucks, food halls offer a chance for emerging culinary talents, as well as established chefs, to experiment without the high start-up costs of a traditional restaurant. The resulting cre- ativity is translating into adventurous menus with bites from around the world, from Bolivian salteñas to sushi burritos. In fact, whereas the first wave of food halls recalled old- style marketplaces with individual grocery stalls for meat, sea- food, produce, and packaged items all under one roof, the latest crop are more untraditional restaurant models. New York is a frontrunner in this, as we cover in this issue. Already home to stalwarts like Chelsea Market and Eataly, the latest open- ings include Gotham West Market, Berg'n, Hudson Eats, and TurnStyle, a new underground marketplace built in the 59th St.-Columbus Circle subway station. Highly anticipated future openings include: Anthony Bourdain's space on Pier 57, remi- niscent of Malaysian hawker stations with foods from around the globe; Nordic-themed Great Northern Food Hall by chef Claus Meyer of Copenhagen's Noma fame; and DeKalb Mar- ket, a sprawling subterranean space set to open in downtown Brooklyn. The attraction of this style of dining is changing where and how consumers enjoy a meal. (And that's without even touching on how other disruptors like meal-kit services and menu-delivery apps like Seamless are impacting dining out.) Traditional restaurants are already responding with unfussy menu offerings from fried chicken to doughnuts, as well as more casual chef 's outposts, often in new food halls. There's opportunity for retailers to capture some of this momentum too, not just in what they offer in prepared foods but in how their shoppers can experience the meals. As space allows, some stores are gravitating toward a grocerant model, allocating food–court-style space with counters or stalls offer- ing meal options for pick up or seating for dining there. Others are using outdoor space for weekend food courts where shop- pers can gather. If you're not yet thinking about how your store can serve as a new neighborhood hangout, a space food halls are increasingly filling, you may already be behind the curve in maximizing the variety, excitement, and community that's signifying the new dining out.

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