When Providence’s Capital Center Commission approved design plans for what a Providence developer called “Rhode Island’s first food hall” at the Union Station building, it raised two questions: what’s a food hall and would this really be the state’s first?
After all, Plant City Providence LLC on South Water Street bills itself as Rhode Island’s first vegan food hall. It’s been open for three years.
The definition for such an establishment, however, is open to interpretation. For instance, what differentiates a food hall from a food court at the mall?
While the Marsella Development Corp. claims its $23.5 million proposal will be the first food hall to come to Rhode Island when it opens as planned in the spring of 2023, Plant City opened in June 2019 with four restaurants serving different styles of food, three full bars, a takeout counter, a marketplace, and a cafe all under one roof, with seating for 450 people.
Plant City owner Kim Anderson acknowledges that the restaurants at her location have one operator and it’s located on two floors spanning 14,000 square feet, whereas typically people think of a food hall as being all on one level with multiple independent vendors and cafeteria-style seating without a wait staff. But still, Plant City counts as a food hall, she insists.
“We’re not a traditional food hall, but we’re a food hall,” Anderson said.
While a food hall and a food court both have communal seating and a variety of options, Anderson and other foodies said that a food hall is distinct in that it isn’t packed with fast-food chains. And a food hall isn’t centered around the retail shopping experience, they say.
Instead, food halls are destinations that are characterized by independent vendors, each renting and operating their own small booths or counters, often offering an eclectic mix of popular street food.
Marsella Development says its project will feature 13 vendors and two bars with a variety of foods “representing Rhode Island’s culinary diversity.”
“Rhode Island has never had a true, traditional food hall,” said Kate Murphy, a company spokesperson. “Our [Rhode Island] malls have food courts with everyone’s favorite chain vendors. Even the old Arcade had a McDonald’s. But our food hall will feature independently operated vendors who will showcase the incredible diversity we have in Rhode Island through their unique culinary approaches.”
Anderson says she supports the food hall plan of Marsella Development and its president, Christopher Marsella, who is the landlord for Plant City’s separate cocktail bar, called 345 by Plant City, located at 345 South Water St.
“I think a traditional food hall is a great idea because it gives small businesses a chance to open up a business without doing the whole brick-and-mortar thing,” said Anderson, describing it as a more affordable option for vendors than leasing out a full-size restaurant space. “They’re a great place for creativity and bringing the community together around food. … I think it’s a wonderful opportunity.”
Eat Drink RI LLC President David Dadekian agrees that whatever the definition of a food hall is, Rhode Island could use more.
Dadekian said Europe is far ahead of the U.S. when it comes to food halls, recalling the “incredible mix” of seafood, meats, wines, beers and cider at The Boqueria in Barcelona, Spain, that he visited in 2014. But he said the U.S. also has amazing halls, such as the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco and Pike Place Market in Seattle.
“I think it would be great to see,” Dadekian said. “There are certain things that lend themselves to communal eating, like ramen and burgers, Thai food, and sushi. The sky’s the limit, really.”
Marc Larocque is a PBN staff writer. Contact him at Larocque@PBN.com.
Rather a trite and silly article spending time debating the definition of a food hall rather than focusing on why Rhode Island does not have one. In fact, wasn’t it the Carpionato group that planned to build a food hall in the area where they demolished the old fruit and produce market just west of Providence Place. So why didn’t Larocque investigate the reasons behind the no action on that development. A food hall would seem to require diversity and scale to be successful which makes the Marsella planned $23.5 million investment an attention grabber. Plant City is a nice operation, but it is nothing more than a glorified restaurant, subdivided and they certainly didn’t spend millions getting it into operation. In fact Venda on Federal Hill has a better claim as food hall than Plant City since it offers a variety of food products, prepared foods, ceramics besides serving as a restaurant. In fact, expand Venda tenfold and you have Eataly in NYC and Boston. If Providence wants to be a culinary destination, it has to offer a food hall on the scale and diversity of Pike’s Place in Seattle.
This would be a great idea if Providence was bustling as it was in the ’70s and ’80s, but I fear it is too little, too late.