With fanfare that included a marching band and Gov. Ron DeSantis showing up for the ribbon cutting, Delray
Beach Market, the state’s largest food hall, opened April 24 in downtown
Delray Beach.
The 150,000-square-foot project has been in the making since 2016 when things were vastly different, said Craig Menin, founder of Menin Development.
The $60 million, four-story project was complicated, he said, listing not only the pandemic and its limitations, but having to curate 27 restaurants, design and build out the blocklong structure that includes the food hall and a parking garage, all while keeping ideals of authenticity at the forefront. “I’ve built a lot of buildings over the years,” Mr. Menin said, citing his first project as a 19-year-old. “This was by far the hardest.”
Jordana Jarjura, vice-president of Menin, said, “In 2016 this seemed like an amazing idea. I live downtown,” she said. “We have amazing restaurants here, but still we were lacking healthy offerings and authentic ethnic foods.”
Above: The $60 million Delray Beach Market has opened just south of Atlantic Avenue in downtown Delray Beach. Top: The 150,000-square-foot market offers a range of dining options, as well as prepared foods and other goods to take home. COURTESY IMAGE
This was planned to be the answer, she said.
The Menin team leaned on Bob Higginbotham, a former restaurateur and now food and beverage director of the group, to identify vendors suitable to the market based on variety and quality, bringing some unique component to the food hall.
“We looked at 30 or more food halls and public markets, all around the country, visiting some multiple times,” he said. “Eataly is in its own box,” he said, noting the New York phenomenon opened by celebrity chef Mario Batali that hits on all fronts, from retail ingredients to the prepared foods and beyond. “So eliminating that, we kept coming back to Reading Terminal Market.” The Philadelphia market has all the elements they wanted in Delray, he said — fresh foods, a unique ethnic and cultural culinary mix, plus, it “represents the city.”
The size is indicative of the growing seaside city where the casual chic design fits. Jose Gonzalez of Miami designed the building and spaces, but it is the result of several rejected designs and extensive zoning changes.
Above: Tip to Tail offers fresh local fish and other seafood at the Delray Beach Market.
Mr. Menin said he wanted it to be as though it was always a part of the city, with the design “based on where it is.” Ideas that didn’t get approved include one that “looked like Brooklyn,” he said. “This isn’t New York.”
The architect finally brought to life a modern, sweeping “fun building” design that fills spaces visually if not physically. Despite being wide open, the 30,000-square-foot main vendor area is broken up by planters and interactive, whimsical art sculptures as well as mobile vendor carts complementing the fixed booths, each unique.
It’s a smorgasbord for diners who can walk from one end to the other and encounter foods from Southern U.S., to Italy, to Lebanon and Japan with myriad choices in between.
The development group has tried to attract those food makers who they say aren’t represented along Atlantic Avenue or nearby.
Left: Dad’s Favorite is known for its burgers and the fresh blueberry pie.
“We were looking for authentic ethnic, local when possible, healthy and memorable. We have Indian, Lebanese, Pan-Asian, healthy quick breakfasts and many more,” Ms. Jarjura said.
Opening during the pandemic and putting protocols in place wasn’t all bad, said Craig O’Keefe, managing partner of Clique Hospitality, the group responsible for managing the food hall, as well as the restaurant across the avenue called Lionfish.
“One of the cool parts of having to eliminate stalls brings an awesome opportunity for more start-ups, small mom and pops who wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to get the exposure they’ll get here,” he said. “This will give people an opportunity to experiment and do some cool stuff.”
Diners can seek out menus specializing in vegan (Roots), Lebanese (Ferdo’s Grill), traditional deli foods (Big T’s Deli), Southern barbecue (Surry Co. Smoke House) and Indian (Tiffin Box), among dozens of others.
Below: Cellar and Pantry offers a considerable cheese and sausage selection, as well as other gourmet items.
Vendors have come from around the county with a few outside of the area, she said. Local chefs and food providers are on board, with people like Jimmy Everett of Driftwood in Boynton Beach paying homage to two Mexican sisters with Sorella’s, a fresh pasta stall.
“I was trained by these two Mexican sisters in New York who learned how to make pasta from this little Italian woman. Back in the day they really were the ones doing fresh pasta shapes for all the top restaurants,” he said. One of the pair died of cancer, squashing their dream of opening their own pasta shop.
“So Sorella’s means sister in Italian, and the shop is in honor of them,” Mr. Everett said. The tiny stall — roughly 250 feet — offers fresh pastas made on the spot, and sauces with some other components sold for a pasta dish.
Cooks can find fresh seafood at Tip to Tail, and a considerable cheese and sausage selection at Cellar and Pantry.
Sweet tooth cravings can be sated at Bona Bona ice cream, Circus Eats, Professor Pops popsicles and the Lovelee Bakeshop.
The developers have taken the virus into consideration, with a cashless business model (cash can be exchanged at the central concierge desk for a gift card used throughout), touchless bathrooms, collapsible nano walls for open-air spaces, and outdoor seating as well as spacedout interior tables.
“We wanted stripped down stalls so the public can see the vendors in action. They can watch the pasta being made, and the sushi chef making sushi,” Ms. Jarjura said.
The money for decor was spent instead on murals, and a variety of artwork by both local and national artists in a mix of media that is displayed and is rotated in and out.
The mezzanine features a show kitchen and play area for kids, as well as a community gathering space where meetings or social events could be staged. While parents get some computer work done on the free WiFi, kids can engage in gaming nearby. Balconies provide more open-air spaces on this level.
Ms. Jarjura says it will become a new social gathering space. “The (Delray) Greenmarket is the green outdoor community space; we’re going to be the indoor community hub.”
The projected number of visitors is large, 2,000 a day, but the team said it has to do with the large hall that is open all day, every day for visitors to come and go, or stay awhile.
The vendors have signed on for one year, minimum. And not all are food, despite the description of the market. Briny Breezes surf shop Nomad is set up in a small shop at the north end. It has beachwear and supplies for a day at the shore.
“We have some retail spaces in the market. They were a local favorite. I went to school with Ronnie Heavyside,” Ms. Jarjura, a South Florida native, said. “His father started (Nomad) in the ’80s. And I know his brother, Ryan, through Ronnie. I just thought Delray was such a large part of their history.”
Mr. O’Keefe said cocktails, wine and beers are available throughout the market. “There is a lounge area in the flex space on the mezzanine. For special events and private events. It will be a community hot spot in the daytime. Maybe Mommy and Me cooking classes or a how to play the ukulele or yoga people can do. It will be real community engagement.”
The area transforms into a more clublike atmosphere at night.
Plenty of outdoor seating is found on the oversized sidewalks.
“There is so much advanced technology throughout,” Mr. O’Keefe said. “You can order as a group on your phone with an app, from individual stalls, and pay as one ticket. And you will get a text message once your food is ready for pickup.”
As parking becomes premium, the four-story structure includes 220 parking spaces in an enclosed garage with elevators opening on each floor of the market.
The developers, Menin Development Group, moved from New York to South Florida in 1996, and with headquarters in Delray Beach, now has projects scattered throughout the area. They include The Ben, a luxury boutique hotel a few blocks away in Pineapple Grove. It’s scheduled to open this year as well.
The Delray Beach Market is open at 33 S.E. Third Ave., Delray Beach, and is open daily, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Info: www.delraybeachmarket.com ¦