A sprawling Chelsea food hall with 15 vendors including Zaab Zaab, a revived Bessou, and a relaunched butcher shop from White Gold alums, anchored by and curated in collaboration with the James Beard Foundation, is set to open at Hudson River Park’s Pier 57 this spring.
The food stalls “focus on women- and BIPOC- owned dining destinations that are aligned with JBF’s mission of championing a standard of good food anchored in talent, equity, and sustainability,” according to the release.
Called Market 57, it includes another location of Cobble Hill’s Malai ice cream shop as well as the headquarters for a revived Bessou, the Japanese restaurant that closed in Noho last year (in this iteration there will be more of a seafood focus, with an abbreviated menu of Bessou classics made for fast casual). In addition, it will be the third Zaab Zaab location following the Elmhurst flagship and Williamsburg spots, and the third NYC location for Nom Wah. As previously reported by Eater, Market 57 is a partnership with Jamestown, the food hall operator behind the Chelsea Market and Industry City, alongside Google.
Also included is Ammi, a new venture from Jimmy Rizvi of Indian spot GupShup, another outpost of Midtown’s Bird & Branch coffee, Fan-Fan Doughnut’s Fany Gerson’s new concept called Mijo, in collaboration with her husband Daniel Ortiz de Montellano, which a spokesperson hints is a preview of a larger project the couple has in the works.
Fans of Erika Nakamura and Jocelyn Guest may be interested to check out Italian sandwich shop Due Madri by Butcher Girls, the duo’s first spot since leaving White Gold Butchers.
Elsewhere in the market, find a third location of CSA Local Roots’ cafe, LoLo’s on the Water, a “Caribbean coastal comfort foods” restaurant, from Harlem’s LoLo Seafood Shack team. Market 57 will also act as the first home for Black-owned oyster pop-up The Real Mothershuckers, serving seafood and Cajun cuisine, as featured on Netflix’s High on the Hog. Meanwhile, Crown Height’s vegan-friendly Ras Plant Based is expanding for the first time here; there’s also a Manhattan location for Clinton Hill bakery, The Good Batch, and Harlem Hops, a Harlem beer bar, now with a second Manhattan operation, as well as The Galley by Lobster Place.
Market 57 is the first real estate endeavor for the James Beard Foundation — particularly following a 2020 public reckoning on diversity, or lack thereof — outside of its own events. A release states that the foundation will also run its own stalls, Good To Go by JBF, which will act as a chef incubator, bringing in rotating pop-ups, with an events space, Platform by JBF, seemingly not unlike how Beard House dinners operate.
“Many of whom we recommended are alumni of JBF’s impact programs, have participated in JBF events, or have been featured at the James Beard House over the years,” stated a spokesperson for the foundation.
JBF’s involvement in the Market 57 project brings up a potentially murky relationship between hospitality spots lured for the food hall, and the restaurants the foundation is eyeing for awards, considered to be the Oscars of the food world. (Vendor Harlem Hops was named a James Beard Award Semifinalist for 2023 in the outstanding bar category).
A spokesperson stated that the committee behind the awards has no involvement in the market. The foundation says beyond its team giving recommendations, “from there, the leasing and property management team had conversations with potential vendors and assembled what they believe will be a winning mix of concepts, culinary styles, and offerings.”
To clarify further, the spokesperson stated that, “the Foundation is a brand partner of the food hall but not a partner of any of the business arrangements between Pier 57 and each individual vendor.” The foundation says it will pay rent for Good to Go by JBF, just like the other food vendor tenants.
This isn’t the first food hall attempting to open at Pier 57, which these days is also home to a Google campus; in 2017 Eater reported that an Anthony Bourdain-backed market had been exploring opening there but subsequently dropped those plans, eventually finding a home elsewhere.
Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Foundation Awards.
