New Food Halls Sprout Up in New York City

By Florence Fabricant

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The Deco, in the garment district, will host outposts of popular shops, as expansions come to the Chelsea and Essex markets.

New York has become a food-hall town, with perhaps more of these collections of food and dining stalls than in any other city in the country. This season, there will be some showy additions, as operators are increasingly selective as to who gets to set up shop.

THE DECO

Doris Huang has filled her shiny cobalt-and-gold food hall with a cross-section of options including Huli Huli for Hawaiian fare, like huli huli chicken (but no poke); Papa Poule rotisserie chicken from the Maman group; Nansense for Afghan specialties; Little Tong Noodle Shop from Simone Tong (who is also opening a restaurant, Silver Apricot, this fall); Mani in Pasta for pizza and Roman items; and Beach Bistro 96 with Brazilian bites from Rockaway Beach. The stalls surround a big gilded bar for wine, beer and cocktails.

8SIA

The stalls in this new two-story space all serve Asian food, as the name implies, with a focus on street food. The bright stands, assembled by the developer Chi Zhang, are Yaso Noodle Bar, with pan-fried bao, soup dumplings and noodles from Shanghai; Rice-On! with bowls, rolls and sushi; Curry 42, for foods from southeast Asia; Debutea, for bubble, fruit and cheese tea; and upstairs, Bee Patterns for egg bubble waffles with gelato.

THE MARKET LINE

The dozens of bright stalls in the new Essex Market, which opened in May, are not enough for the enormous Essex Crossing development on the Lower East Side. This fall, the Market Line, with another 30 vendors of prepared food and fresh ingredients, including some restaurants, will open in the lower level. Coming are Schaller & Weber for sausages; Tortilleria Nixtamal’s Mexican foods; Que Chevere for Puerto Rican food; the Grand Delancey Beer Hall, where imbibers can order food from other kiosks; and Essex Pearl, a fish market, with a restaurant. Many of the tenants are from the Lower East Side and Chinatown. Rohan Mehra — a principal of Prusik Group, a developer and a founder of the market — said Market Line will complement, not compete with, the Essex Market upstairs. By 2021, Market Line will triple in size to make the whole thing one of the largest city markets in the world.