New York City’s newest food hall features lineup focused on female, BIPOC vendors

Pier 57 has unveiled the vendor lineup for New York City’s newest food hall, Market 57, located along the Hudson River in Chelsea. The vendor list was curated with input from the James Beard Foundation and is focused on more women and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) vendors.

The market is set to open in the spring.

Market 57 bills itself as an incubator for emerging chefs and entrepreneurs rather than a food hall. The market is expected to “showcase the culinary and cultural diversity of New York City,” according to a release.

“New York City is filled with a rich array of cultures, traditions, and culinary influences, and the vendors at Market 57 reflect that diversity,” said Clare Reichenbach, CEO of the James Beard Foundation, in a release. “We’re excited to bring delicious food to the city’s West Side, while showcasing and supporting incredible talent aligned to our Good Food for Good mission.”

Alongside 15 vendors, the James Beard Foundation will operate Good to Go by JBF, an incubator for fast-casual concepts featuring rotating menus from established operators who embody JBF’s mission and values

Additionally, the James Beard Foundation unveiled Platform by JBF, a modern showcase kitchen and educational space with rotating chefs-in-residence, exceptional dining experiences, culinary arts programming, and events.

Pier 57 houses Google, City Winery, and two future full-service restaurants, as well as one of the city’s largest rooftop. The project cost $410 million to accomplish and has been under construction since 2009, when the Hudson River Park Trust commissioned it.

"The diverse roster of food entrepreneurs brought to Pier 57 by the James Beard Foundation will surely be welcomed by park visitors who’ll be able to grab a bite while enjoying everything Hudson River Park has to offer, including Pier 57 itself," said Hudson River Park Trust president and CEO Noreen Doyle in a release. "The transformation of this historic pier into a world-class public space with an emphasis on sustainability is a win for park users, New Yorkers and the city as a whole."

The 15 vendor kiosks include:

●      Ammi: From restaurateur Jimmy Rizvi, known for his popular Indian restaurant GupShup and Chote Miya, Ammi will feature a menu of homestyle Indian favorites. The name Ammi, which means “mother” in Hindi or Urdu, pays homage to Rizvi’s mother and their family going back a couple generations. Not only will Ammi feature Rizvi’s mother's family recipes, but she will also be training and passing on these recipes to Ammi's chefs.

●      Bessou: Restaurateur Maiko Kyogoku and chef Elena Yamamoto will open the next outpost for Bessou. This new location will be called “Bessou on the Pier'' and will feature some of Bessou's signature dishes, including Japanese-style karaage fried chicken and sushi crispy rice, as well as a new rotating omakase bento and seafood-forward menu.

●      Bird & Branch: Wife-and-husband team Faith and Brandon Lee will open the next location for their specialty coffee shop, which showcases relationally sourced coffees and baked goods with flavors inspired by their Asian-American upbringing. Through their shop, the couple offers a job-training program for those facing barriers to employment. The Lees teach their trainees job skills as well as soft skills — a program that they aim to continue at their new Pier 57 location.

●      Due Madri by Butcher Girls: The latest concept from Erika Nakamura and Jocelyn Guest, the founders of the Butcher Girls, will bring 20 years of shared experience as whole animal butchers to Due Madri. Inspired by their travels to Italy, the menu will feature some of Erika and Jocelyn’s favorite sandwiches and will pay homage to their personal experience and shared love for meaty, Italian fare.

●      Local Roots: Owner Wen-Jay Ying will feature a menu of elevated Chinese farm-to-table food with homestyle cooking using sustainably grown ingredients from local farms. The menu will offer popular items like scallion pancakes, bubble tea, vegetarian egg drop soup, and vegan organic Mapo tofu bowls, along with many grab-and-go options to take to Pier 57’s rooftop park. 

●      LoLo’s on the Water: Raymond Z. Mohan and Leticia Skai Young Mohan offer a spin-off of their Harlem mainstay LoLo's Seafood Shack, a Cape Cod and Caribbean Mashup with LoLo's on the Water, which will focus on Caribbean coastal comfort foods from Belize all the way down to Guyana. The name and menu of LoLo's is inspired by the seaside eateries the couple encountered while living abroad in the British West Indies, as well as Raymond and Leticia’s Caribbean Roots and travel to over 50 countries together. The name LoLo’s stands for locally owned, locally operated.

●      Malai: Founder and first-generation Indian American Pooja Bavishi draws inspiration for her bold and flavorful ice cream from South Asian ingredients, offering unexpected twists on classics. Popular flavors at her Brooklyn-based ice cream company include masala chai and rose with cinnamon roasted almonds. Pier 57 will serve as the first Manhattan location for Malai.

●      Mijo: Fany Gerson, the founder of Fan-Fan Doughnuts and La Newyorkina’s, brings her newest savory concept, Mijo to market. It will also be her first business with her husband Daniel Ortiz de Montellano. Mijo is an abbreviation of “My Son” in Spanish and will be part of a larger project Fany and Danny have in the works.

●      Mothershuckers: Ben “Moody” Harney is known as “The Oyster King of New York” and operates the only oyster cart in Brooklyn. Moody’s goal is to serve more than just the best oysters in New York; he also is driven by the mission to educate the public on the benefits of eating and harvesting oysters — for the body and the environment. At this new location, all oyster shells will be donated to the Billion Oyster Project.

●      Nom Wah: From owner Wilson Tang, this new outpost of his beloved all-day dim sum restaurants will bring together his experiences as a second-generation Chinese American, serving Cantonese classics and riffs on childhood favorites.

●      Harlem Hops: Owners Kevin Bradford, Kim Harris, and Stacey Lee brought Harlem its first 100-percent African American-owned craft beer bar. Now the team is opening a new concept that will offer a welcoming space for small bites, socializing, and exploring an intriguing and accessible collection of innovative, small batch beers, including a growing number of beers from brewers of color. The location will also give another platform to the trio’s nonprofit: Harlem Hopes.

●      The Galley by Lobster Place: This fun, casual seafood eatery is the latest outpost from the team behind Chelsea Market’s Lobster Place. Chef Dave Seigal will highlight some of the most popular items from their flagship location, including their crowd-pleasing lobster roll and a selection of broiled local oysters.

●      The Good Batch: Owner and chef Anna Gordon is the mastermind behind the popular Clinton Hill bakery, The Good Batch. Her latest outpost at Pier 57 will specialize in the hearty cookies, ice cream sandwiches.

●      Ras Plant Based: Driven by the mission to connect communities to living foods by promoting sustainability, Romeo and Milka Regalli serve delicious and healthy plant-based food made from scratch. This second location of Ras Plant Based will feature some of the popular menu items from their original Brooklyn location, including flavorful bowls.

●      Zaab Zaab: Chef Aniwat Khotsopha and owners Bryan Chunton & Pei We have brought an authentic, forward-looking approach to Thai food at their hit restaurant. Showcasing the true flavors of Thailand's Northeastern Isaan region, this latest location will feature crowd favorites like duck larb, as well as some new surprises.

The ground floor of Pier 57 will house Community Classrooms, which include flexible layouts that will be available free of charge for local nonprofits, community organizations, and cultural groups, as well as a public gathering place — called the Living Room — located on the ground floor of the Pier’s southern edge. The Living Room will include stadium seating, soft seating, and long communal tables for people to connect and gather and provide visitors with views of the Pier, nearby Little Island, lower Manhattan, and Hudson River. In addition, Google is creating a tech-oriented public classroom and gallery that will be operated by the Hudson River Park’s River Project team to educate and cultivate the next generation of environmental leaders and advocates.

"We expanded our lease to include the ground floor because we believe we unlock Pier 57's full potential when it's not only a unique space for Googlers, but an exciting destination for all New Yorkers,” said Torrence Boone, vice president of global client partnerships and site leader for Google New York, in a statement. “We're thrilled to partner with Jamestown, the James Beard Foundation, and this diverse set of restaurateurs on the upcoming opening of Market 57."

The ground floor project is designed in collaboration with Jamestown.

“We are able to create great places when we provide a backdrop and set of resources to celebrate and support the entrepreneurship and diversity of our communities,” said Michael Phillips, president of Jamestown, in a statement. “Market 57 is that model brought to life for New York City’s culinary community.”