Hospitality Design - October 2014 - 60

perspectives

trends

market dining
he's putting his money where his mouth is, as a
partner in Stir Market, opening in LA's Fairfax
neighborhood later this fall.
Here's a closer look at Stir Market, and
several others.

Photo by NOAH FECKS

Stirring the Pot

4
4. New York's Gotham
West Market sports a
'70s retro design in its
eight restaurants.

5

5. The new
63,000-square-foot,
two-story Eataly
Chicago.

Unsurprisingly, given his experience, Libit says
that he and his partners-Stir Market founder
Mimi Mok, whose background is in finance and
real estate development, and Jet Tila, a chef
and Food Network personality-are "really
interested in the mix of retail and restaurants,"
noting that he's designed retail components for
restaurant clients just as he's designed dining
areas for Whole Foods. The 4,000-square-foot
space combines dining experiences, food stalls,
and curated gourmet goods for sale, all offered
under the same umbrella rather than as a kit of
separate purveyors.
"A key for us is creating individual stations
with designs that match the cuisine," says
Libit. "The deli has light green glazed brick
tiles and brighter lighting while the coffee/
bakery component features marble and light
wood; the wine bar is darker with handpainted
tile and a zinc countertop." Linking it all, a
communal dining hall that features a 30-footlong banquette.

Photo courtesy of OKW Architects

Big Apple Eats

with the company's in-house team. Meanwhile,
the concept has become shorthand for this kind
of marketplace, with seemingly countless cities
boasting they have similar independent, Eatalylike projects in the works.
San Francisco can also lay legitimate
claim to the idea, thanks to a groundbreaking
renovation of its Ferry Building in 2002
that featured a high-end marketplace with
artisanal food purveyors and local producers
as tenants. And major East Coast cities such as
Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Baltimore
have decades- and centuries-old indoor markets
that continue to thrive; the West Coast has Pike

060

October 2014 hospitalitydesign.com

Place Market in Seattle and Grand Central
Market in LA; and in the heartland, Cleveland's
West Side Market has been operating since 1840.
Others point to Whole Foods Market as
exemplifying the trend. Los Angeles-based
architect Bryan Libit, who has designed outlets
for the supermarket chain, says the stores "aren't
just selling groceries-they're making their own
prepared foods, showcasing their vendors, and
setting aside space for sit-down dining." Today's
diners don't require a formal experience, he
adds. "They want things to be edited for them,
with enough variety so that whenever they visit,
it's different." He's so confident in the trend that

Even before the Ferry Building revamp, there
was New York's Chelsea Market, which opened
in 1997. Thanks to the addition of the High
Line park, the area has exploded and these days
the indoor, one block-square market claims
it receives some six million annual visitors.
No wonder others have marched into
Manhattan's far west side. Star restaurateur
Danny Meyer, for example, is reportedly
working on developing the concepts and venues
for Kitchens, anticipated to open at Hudson
Yards, the mega-development located about 12
blocks north of Chelsea Market.
Further north, the wildly popular Gotham
West Market opened last fall. Designed and
operated by New York-based firm AvroKO, it's
imbued with a "'70s retro vibe that's block party
meets Al Pacino's Serpico," according to William
Harris, a partner at the firm, and features
just eight tightly focused restaurants helmed
by culinary hotshots. "We spent a lot of time
working on developing the right programmatic
mix of tenants," explains Adam Farmerie,
another AvroKO partner. "Ultimately it was
akin to planning a dinner party-make sure you
have the right chemistry between guests, and
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