Downtown restaurateur Peter Poulakakos has officially signed a contract to run the 30,000-square-foot food marketplace at the World Financial Center, Side Dish has learned.
Poulakakos is operator of the Financier Patisserie coffee chain and other eateries in the Financial District, including Harry’s Cafe and Steak, Ulysses and Bayard’s.
“We signed the deal. We remain very committed to lower Manhattan,” he said, adding that it is still too early to discuss details.
Poulakakos beat out sexier, more high-profile celebrity names including Todd English, who kicked off the marketplace trend in Manhattan with his Harrod’s-inspired Food Hall in the basement of the Plaza Hotel. Cipriani’s and Steven Starr were also in the running.
The marketplace will feature fresh and prepared foods, ranging from meat and produce to wine, coffee and pastries.
There will be two restaurants: an outside seasonal space open around nine months of the year and another one “probably focusing on seafood,” said a spokesperson for Brookfield Office Properties, which is running the eight million-square-foot, four-building complex.
The market, which has yet to be officially named, will span 23,000 square feet indoors and 7,000 square feet outside when it opens for business, expected in mid-’14.
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Michael Gluckman’s new spot in Sag Harbor is starting to take shape.
Gluckman, formerly of The Lodge, The Boathouse and The Beach House, and chef Eric Miller, known for his barbecue at Food & Co. in East Hampton, took over the space vacated by the New Paradise Cafe at 126 Main St.
Slated to open in the spring, Madison & Main will focus on seafood — as local and seasonal as possible — with “a good dose of signature smoking,” a source said.
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WE HEAR . . . that Dede Gotthelf, CEO and managing partner of Southampton Inn, is looking for a major restaurateur to take over OSO, the year-round inn’s summer-only restaurant, which has in the past earned a three-star rating from Wine Spectator.