Foodizen: What’s a Food Hall, Anyway?
Mar. 26, 2019
"The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name," said the aboriginal philosopher, Confucius. And so lately I have been puzzling through a modern metaphysical dilemma, a question of nomenclature that surely nags at the enlightened 21 st century urban diner: What, truly, is the difference betwixt a food hall and a food courtroom?
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I mean, I call back I know what people mean when they sneeringly refer to a "nutrient courtroom." I assume they mean that archetypal area at the centre of the indoor shopping mall, where those of us who grew upwards in the 1980s might have hung out, nether glowing fluorescent lights, at greasy plastic tables, taking in the swirling odors and sounds of Auntie Anne'due south, Cinnabon, TCBY, Panda Express, Taco Bong, and Sbarro. For a young, mulleted teen in acid-wash jeans and a Expressionless Milkmen t-shirt (myself in 1986) the food court was every bit shut every bit I might come up to experiencing the sort of public customs infinite, or tertiary place, that would become the obsessive trend of retailers, developers, and planners over the past two decades.
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Alas, the food courtroom of yore, we're told, is a disgraceful embarrassment—"the most discredited concept in xx th century dining," according to a 2022 piece by Henry Grabar in Slate. The nutrient hall is now male monarch. The food hall has even usurped the ubiquitous food truck trend of the by decade. " Food Halls Are the New Food Truck ," trumpeted Eater in August. " Forget food trucks. At present 'nutrient halls' are having a moment, and they're changing the mural ," alleged The Washington Post in September.
But what exactly is a nutrient hall? The query seized me during several eating visits inside the cute $40-one thousand thousand renovated food hall at The Bourse that opened on Independence Mall in Sometime City this past fall. In the absurd, industrial-chic space inside the Beaux Arts old bolt exchange built in 1895, I sabbatum at long wooden common tables, under the sunny glass ceiling, surrounded by original wrought-fe railings and classical columns. The oversupply at noon seemed full of creative professionals, many snapping iPhone photos of their lunch. Most anybody agrees that the new Bourse is "Instagrammable," as is much of the food—most of which is "fast casual" and not fast nutrient, some other naming sleight of hand.
"I guess I think of a food court as 1985, at the mall with Sbarro." And a food hall? "A nutrient hall is just 2019. And a hipster with tattoos serving you better food."
To exist articulate, there is very little "food courtroom food" among The Bourse'south 28 vendors . I tucked into a Kushari bowl of succulent spiced chicken served over lentils, chickpeas, and a tangy love apple sauce from Ka'Moon , a Egyptian fast casual spot. From Lalo , the vivid and cheery Filipino street food stall, I devoured a rich beefiness stew chosen kaldereta , along with long-si-log , a housemade pork sausage over garlic rice, topped with a soft egg, and a side of pork and lemongrass egg rolls called lumpia shanghai . From Chaat and Chai , I ate tasty chaat rolls 1 with lamb and some other with cauliflower, flavored with mint-coriander and tamarind-date chutneys and masala.
Perchance more than familiar, there's splendid coal-fired pizza from Bricco (its original location across the river in Westmont, NJ, already makes some of the region'south all-time pizza), damn good fried craven sandwiches from Freebyrd , and nifty water ice cream from longtime Center City favorite Scoop DeVille . All of this is to say that the food is a far cry from Sbarro, Panda Express, and fro-yo—fresher, more interesting, and much higher quality. And unlike the nutrient courtroom, you can go craft beer from a number of the vendors also every bit cocktails at a large bonny bar run by Phoenixville's Bluebird Distilling .
It'due south really surprising that it took Philadelphia so long to finally go new-moving ridge food halls. The smaller, Asian-focused Chinatown Square opened in 2022 and Franklin's Table opened on the University of Pennsylvania campus last leap. Merely compared to elsewhere in the state, nosotros've been late adopters.
The food hall revolution has been swift; information technology's hard to remember a fourth dimension when most cities did non have a food hall, or several of them. Information technology began, by near accounts, with New York'southward Chelsea Marketplace in the late 1990s, followed by San Francisco'due south Ferry Building in 2002. By 2015, there were nearly lxx food halls in the U.South. and and then 86 by the end of 2016, according to a study by Cushman and Wakefield, the commercial real estate firm. By the end of 2017, the number of food halls had reached 118. Well-nigh observers believe, at this charge per unit, the universe of food halls will have tripled between 2022 and 2020.
Of class, in Philadelphia, we already had Reading Last Market place , ane of America'south largest and oldest public markets, housed in a National Celebrated Landmark building dating to 1892. According to Anuj Gupta, general manager of Reading Terminal Market, Reading Terminal is neither a food hall nor a food court. "We're a public market," Gupta says. "A food hall is a glorified nutrient courtroom. A public market is a identify where you lot can get the daily needs for your home with regularity."
Information technology's true that the vibe of The Bourse, with its focus on prepared food, is very different than Reading Terminal. The Bourse simply does not yet have the bustle of humanity that Reading Last has always had. Part of the reason for that is Reading Terminal has more than than a tertiary of its space devoted to fresh food stalls selling produce, fish, meat, and breadstuff. Gupta also points out that Reading Terminal is the largest redemption betoken for food stamps in the unabridged state of Pennsylvania.
About everyone agrees that the new Bourse is "Instagrammable," every bit is much of the food—almost of which is "fast casual" and not fast food, another naming sleight of hand.
Before The Bourse opened, there was some civic concern that it might hurt Reading Last'southward lunch business. And then far, Gupta says, that hasn't happened. In 2018, Reading Concluding had vii.3 millions visitors, the highest full since they started tracking numbers in 2003.
What worries Gupta more than fast casual concepts is the growing competition from large markets similar Whole Foods—especially since its conquering by Amazon. Reading Terminal has been experimenting with grocery commitment to compete, and is at present offering free delivery for purchases —in-person or online—over $40.
All of this is to proceed Reading Terminal feasible as a market and keep it from turning into only another nutrient hall. "A lot of consumer beliefs is working against us. In 2016, more Americans were buying prepared food than fresh foods for home," Gupta said. "The cadre of the market is fresh nutrient. The biggest challenge is to maintain this place as a marketplace. If we fail at that, we fail at our mission."
Over at The Bourse, information technology'southward a completely unlike model. A nutrient hall offers an attractive investment for a commencement-upwards fast-casual businesses. Compared to opening a stand-alone restaurant, with high rents and labor costs, a food hall offers a fledgling owner lower rents and shared expenses. The food truck model offers similar benefits, but a food hall offers a gear up location with more consistent foot traffic compared to the uncertainty of the food truck crowd.
Some of The Bourse's vendors, such as Chaat and Chai and Grubhouse, airtight their standalone locations in South Philly to move to The Bourse. Others, like Scoop DeVille and Bricco, notwithstanding operate their standalone locations.
Others are using The Bourse as a step in their entrepreneurial path. Tim and Hala Bonner, who own Kamoon in The Bourse, began their concern as a nutrient truck in the Lehigh Valley in 2014, after they both left jobs in academia (both hold PhDs and all the same teach function time). They saw an opportunity to serve the nutrient that Hala grew up with in Egypt. "Egyptian food is a niche brand, and people were afraid of it at first," says Tim Bonner.
A food hall offers an attractive investment for a start-up fast-casual businesses. Compared to opening a stand-alone restaurant, with high rents and labor costs, a food hall offers a fledgling owner lower rents and shared expenses.
After their halal food truck had gained popularity, they opened a stall in Easton's downtown food hall . Somewhen, they were recruited by the developer of The Bourse to open at that place. Bonner said it toll virtually the same to build out a 400 to 500 foursquare pes infinite in a food hall as information technology did to create a food truck concept, about $125,000 to $150,000. "We're in front end of a lot more than customers than at a stand up-lone location," he said. "Only the but negative of a food hall is yous're competing with 20 other vendors."
Still, the food hall experience has been a positive step for a startup like the Bonners'. "At present that we've been in 2 nutrient halls, nosotros empathize our brand much better," he says. They're soon opening a stand-lonely restaurant in Bethlehem, and have plans for others.
At Lalo, Neal Santos and his partners, Jillian Encarnacion, Resa Mueller, and Michael Cher, had been doing Filipino popular-upwards dinners at various restaurants for five years earlier deciding to open store in The Bourse. Lalo is a play on the Tagalog words for grandmother and grandfather, an homage to Encarnacion'due south grandfather, who actually sold kebabs and other Filipino food from a cart across the mall for more than than 30 years. "We liked the idea of being in i place. It has a similar feel to a food truck," Santos says. They also like the camaraderie with the other vendors, and the shared sense of community and purpose.
Business at The Bourse, all the vendors say, has yet been irksome. The food hall opened later than expected, during the late fall, and factors like the holidays, cold weather, and the authorities shutdown have not helped. Correct at present there is mostly a lunch crowd, just there is promise for a robust happy hr oversupply in warmer weather. But right at present the evening is pretty quiet. Lalo'south team is hosting an art and food popular-up on Apr 4 that may provide a template for how to bring in a nighttime-time crowd. "This place is constantly morphing and evolving," Santos says.
"The oversupply here is obviously lunch-driven and you accept to accept that," said Vincenzo Barone, owner of Bricco Pizza. "They're trying to build up the night time crowd, but I'm not sure information technology will happen." Still, Barone is very optimistic near the time to come of The Bourse. Its location adjacent to one of the most touristed sites in the country bodes well. And shortly, companies will be moving into the office space on the floors above the food hall, with equally many as 1,200 new office workers who will demand to eat lunch somewhere. "At that place's great energy in here. It'south like a little village. I honey it."
I asked Barone if he could tell me the deviation between a food hall and food court. "I don't know if I can answer that," he said, with a laugh. "I guess I retrieve of a nutrient court as 1985, at the mall with Sbarro." And a food hall? "A food hall is just 2019. And a hipster with tattoos serving you better food."
Photo via PUNCH Media 
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Source: https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/foodizen-whats-a-food-hall-anyway/
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