New York isn’t hurting for food halls, to put it mildly. From Italian to Nordic to French cuisine, from Hell’s Kitchen to Battery Park City to Brooklyn and Queens, the local appetite for destinations with multiple dining options under one roof seems to be an insatiable one.
Last week saw another entry into the fray, with the opening of the Market Line on the Lower East Side’s Delancey Street. Part of the new Essex Crossing development, the subterranean Market Line’s shops and vendors represent the neighborhood’s melting-pot culture, blending old-school fixtures and fresh faces to impressive effect.
For 65 years, East Village stalwart Veselka has been slinging pierogis and blintzes around the clock to the hungry masses; here, it has an outpost next to Tortilleria Nixtamal, a Queens go-to that drew a cult following for its legendarily fresh tortillas before its untimely closure last fall, and across from Essex Pearl, a new seafood spot from a family-run fishmonger a few blocks over on Grand Street.
You’ll also find noodles – tori paitan ramen from Kuro-Obi, the takeaway arm of the ever-popular Japanese chain, Ippudo; fine pho from Pho Grand, a LES institution – dumplings and more from Chinatown favorite Nom Wah, and an array of Southeast Asian sweet treats from the two-year-old Moon Man.
There’s legit New York- and Grandma-style pizza at Slice Joint, courtesy of a Roberta’s alum; highly drinkable natural wine at at Peoples Wine Shop and Bar, from Jeremiah Stone and Fabian von Hauske Valtierra, the team behind buzzy neighborhood favorites Contra and Wildair; and beer, charcuterie, sausages, and German groceries galore from Schaller & Weber, a Yorkville butcher shop dating to 1937.
“Our goal with the Market Line was to create a venue for the community that reflects the Lower East Side’s diverse immigrant food culture and offers a space for small businesses to flourish and expand their audience,” Rohan Mehra, co-founder of the Prusik Group, the real estate developer overseeing the Market Line, said in a press release.
The Market Line is downstairs from Essex Market – formerly known as the Essex Street Market, a historic venue that relocated from its original address this past spring. It’s the first phase of a project that will eventually include galleries, boutiques, a live music venue, and more, set to be completed in 2021.
For more information and the full list of vendors, visit marketline.nyc.
