Sahadi's, which operates two Middle Eastern grocery stores in Brooklyn, New York, is preparing to open a foodservice-focused kiosk in the Market 57 food Hall in Manhattan later this month.
The specialty food retailer has been in business in New York for more than 125 years, offering a wide selection of imported items from around the world as well as house-made prepared foods.
Market 57, a former shipping and storage terminal, has been converted into a recreation and dining destination by real estate development company Jamestown, with a food hall curated by the James Beard Foundation.
“The opportunity to partner with Jamestown and the James Beard Foundation was too good to pass up,” a spokesperson for Sahadi's told SFA News Daily.
Caitlin Whelan, part of the fifth generation of the Sahadi family that owns and operates Sahadi's, and co-owner of Sahadi Spirits, the family's recently opened outlet for globally sourced wines and more, will oversee the new location at Market 57.
“We are looking forward to the opportunity to go back to our roots, as this is just a short distance away from our very beginnings in Little Syria in 1895,” she said. “Our kiosk at Market 57 is in excellent company as the curation of vendors is truly diverse.”
Other foodservice operators in the space include Ammi, an Indian food restaurant; Honey Bunny, specializing in chicken and biscuits; LoLo's on the Water, a Caribbean-influenced outlet that is a spinoff of the original LoLo's Seafood Shack in Harlem; Nom Wah, offering Chinese dim sum; Zaab Zaab, with a menu of Thai cuisine, and others reflecting cuisines from around the world.
In addition, Market 57 also includes Good To Go by JBF, an incubator for existing fast-casual chefs to test new concepts, with a focus on sustainability and ethical sourcing. The space also includes a space called Platform by the James Beard Foundation, featuring culinary arts programming, education, and events.
The Sahadi's kiosk will offer grab-and-go items as well as made-to-order saj (a Lebanese flatbread cooked atop a special dome, which is also called a saj) and bowls, manakeesh (flatbread topped with cheese, ground meats or other ingredients), and wines from the Mediterranean.
Whelan described it as “the perfect spot to stop for a great lunch or happy hour mezze.”
Sahadi's founders, who were originally from Lebanon, opened their first store in lower Manhattan in 1895 in an area then known as Little Syria. The family relocated the store to Brooklyn in 1948, and they have since expanded to a second retail/foodservice location in the Industry City mixed-use dining and entertainment destination, also in Brooklyn. Sahadi Spirits opened earlier this year in a space next to the Industry City location.
Related: Commuters Fuel Coffee, Tea, Donut Boom; Cross Cultural Cooking Named Trend of the Year.