Tiffani Faison, Top Bartenders, and More Major Talent Is Coming to Downtown Boston Food Hall
First published on www.bostonmagazine.com, April 2019. Copyright © 2019 Metro Corp. Reproduced with permission.
As plans for trendy, high-quality food halls proliferate around Boston, the city's top culinary talent is certainly keeping busy. Following the marquee announcement from the highly anticipated Time Out Market slated to land later this spring in the Fenway, a separate, downtown Boston food hall called High Street Place just announced the first wave of its resident vendors—and it's an impressive lineup.
High Street Place will have both a new raw bar and a pizza-and-sub shop from maverick chef Tiffani Faison; a modern cocktail bar from Daren Swisher and Joseph Cammarata, the dream team behind Hojoko's bar program, among others; Wheelhouse's cult-favorite burgers; Mother Juice; the ninth location of Fuji Sushi, and more.
The new food hall is headed for a large, underused atrium in the Financial District, which connects two office towers at 160 Federal and 100 High Street. A project by Boston firms Rockpoint Group and Rockhill Management, and D.C.-based retail developers CANAdev, the food hall will "[celebrate] quality, authenticity and all things Boston," the team announced today.
"High Street Place will set a new standard for food halls," says CANAdev principal Michael Morris in a press release. "From the design to the food, we have focused on bringing 'best-in-class' and highly specialized vendors who share our love of Boston and our passion for food, drink and hospitality."
The initial lineup reveals just more than half of the planned 20 vendors. So far, it's a mix of new locations for established Boston restaurants, some totally new concepts, and a few new ventures for some of the city's best-loved chefs and bartenders. And of course it includes CBD-infused drinks and snacks.
From the press release, here's what's in store:
Daiquiris & Daisies – A fun, casual, and modern cocktail bar from Daren Swisher and Joseph Cammarata, the gentlemen who helped shape the bar programs at such notable local establishments as backbar, jm Curley, and most recently, Hojoko. Named after two of Swisher and Cammarata's favorite cocktails, Daiquiris & Daisies will showcase a menu of creative and classic cocktails with seasonal twists. There will be a pineapple daiquiri, perfected after years of tweaking, and an amaro-based daisy among the bar's concoctions; a curated spirits list with additional cocktail recommendations for each individual spirit will also be available.
Dive Bar – A "Mason-Dixon water fight" best sums up Tiffani Faison's irreverent raw bar menu. The award-winning chef takes her Boston roots and draws on her time spent living and cooking in New Orleans as she pits North and South Atlantic classics against one another. Everything from buttery lobster rolls to po' boys to peel n' eat shrimp just might be on the menu.
The Farmacy Cafe – What began as a fresh, wholesome café serving organic meals and superfood smoothies out of a shipping container in Boston's Seaport has made its way across town. Farmacy's "Feel Good Food Menu," featuring local and organic vegetables and high-quality, pasture-raised meats, will be entirely handmade on-site. Guests can expect delicious breakfast toasts, customizable rice and salad bowls, Ayurvedic items, gluten-free options, and unique beverages, not to mention a few CBD-infused items, such as a specialty kombucha, debuting at High Street Place.
Fuji Sushi — In what will be the 9th location under JP Fuji Group's successful portfolio of restaurants in Greater Boston, founder, CEO, and master chef Jimmy Liang introduces a unique menu that will feature top-selling items from each of his existing Fuji locations, as well as distinctive dishes created specifically for High Street Place. A curated list of Japanese sake, beer, and whisky will accompany the menu, and interior designer Brian Khoo, who has established the iconic ambiance across each of the Fuji restaurants, will bring the same level of modern sophistication to the exciting new space.
Haley Jane – From the crew at Wheelhouse in Boston comes a brand new fried chicken concept inspired by the burger phenom's wildly popular Thursday fried chicken sandwich special. They've harnessed the world's love of fried chicken and are making it in their own special way, all from scratch and with love. The menu will feature fried chicken sandwiches such as the Nashville Hot, Korean-style, and a buffalo hot honey affectionately named the Bills Mafia.
Mother Juice – This female-owned organic, cold-pressed juice shop was Boston's first of its kind and immediately ignited the city's juice scene after it swung open the doors of its first location in 2014. High Street Place is now the fourth location for Mother Juice and customers will be able to enjoy the usual suspects, including signature juices, smoothies, shots, breakfast bowls, toasts, salads, vegan treats and cleanses. As the seasons change, so do Mother Juice's ingredients, but one thing remains the same: Mother Juice's commitment to turning everyone on to how great vegan food and snack options can really be.
Noodle BOS – With vegan, vegetarian, gluten free options, and create your own Ramen and rice bowls, Noodle BOS features generations old recipes like Curry Ramen, Tonkotsu Ramen, and Tempura Udon as well as Southeast Asian street fare like the Malaysian Indian hand-stretched Roti.
Northeast of the Border – As Boston's only authentic Mexican food truck, Northeast of the Border first launched on the Greenway and now expands into its first brick and mortar location with High Street Place. Expect extra fresh guacamole and a range of traditional Mexican tacos.
Pennypackers – Boston's authority in all things porchetta brings its love of roasted meats to High Street Place with a menu of sandwiches, salads, and bar snacks built around the star of the show – slow roasted, skin-on pork that's marinated in a mixture of rosemary, garlic and fennel. The Pennypacker team's Porchetta Sandwich, served on a house ciabatta roll with broccoli rabe, onions agrodolce or seasonal mostarda, has generated a cult following of pork lovers who are sure to flock to this new location.
Tenderoni's – Tiffani Faison brings her second concept to High Street Place in the way of old school pizzas and grinders. Throwing it back to the '70s and '80s, Tenderoni's will turn out personalized pies with crave-able crusts, loaded with cheese; expect the kind of pies that strike that magical note between crunchy and chewy, alongside a menu of grinders and salads.
Wheelhouse – Known for its amazing burger variations, from the popular Pimento Cheeseburger to the Jam Session burger, the Wheelhouse team literally has a burger for everyone's tastes. Everything on the menu at Wheelhouse, including breakfast items, lunch sandwiches and sides, is made entirely in-house.
"We are excited to share this first group of vendors and provide these culinary leaders with the opportunity to experiment with new concepts, launch their first ventures, or expand their audience," Morris said.
Faison, the 2016 Best of Boston Chef who is in the running for the James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef: Northeast for the second year in a row, is the culinary mind of Big Heart Hospitality, which operates Fenway's Sweet Cheeks Q, Tiger Mama, Fool's Errand, and a forthcoming Italian-American restaurant called Orfano. But she has a so much more to create, she said in the press release.
"I have wanted to do a super fun raw bar forever, and the desire to do pizza has been keeping me up at night for years," Faison said. "Just like our restaurants, delivering something that is pure fun, while using great ingredients and technique, is where we live. It is really exciting to bring Big Heart Hospitality to another area of the city, to meet some new neighbors and to make new friends."
For operators like Swisher and Cammarata, who have contributed to the successes of Backbar, JM Curley, and Hojoko with beverage programs they helped develop, High Street Place is an opportunity to do their own thing.
"It gives us a space to focus 100% on cocktails, a rare opportunity in Boston. Combined we have over two decades of experience, but [Daiquiris & Daisies] is our first opportunity to have total creative control and we can't wait to unveil the menu," Cammarata said.
When it opens later this year, High Street Place will be a meandering, 500-seat space meant to encourage exploration of the myriad menu items, per today's early details. Local architects Gensler and Philadelphia-based Groundswell Design Group are spearheading the redevelopment of the structure, which will include a five-story atrium, a green wall, and a retractable window-wall system that will allow for open-air dining in the warmer months. The venue also plans to host events like live music, book signings, panels, and viewing parties (it'll have a retractable projection screen).
Stay tuned for menu details about the new concepts headed for the food hall, as well as for more about Boston's growing food hall landscape.