So what, you may ask, is a food hall?  It is like a public market, but it is more.  It is a comparable to a food truck, but it is more.  It shares similarities with a mall food court, but it is more.  It is an extended galleria of local vendors, convened for the same purpose—to sell their craft to consumers.  Local, sustainable shop ranging from soaps to cheese to fish to beef, and everywhere in-between.  Restaurants, artisan bakeries, coffee shops, wine and beer stalls, butchers, produce grocers, and much more, all under one roof, where vendors are eager to talk to customers, to share the stories behind their craft.

Food halls, though, aren’t a new concept.  They have been a staple in Europe, Japan, and other places throughout the world.  But in America, we were drawn to the convenience of “fast food” or to the elegance of “fine dining,” and therefore there was no need for any sort of food hall in our culture.  A shift is being made, though, as we are developing a hunger for authentic, homegrown products, real food that we can connect to via the farmers who grow produce without chemicals or even to those who raise livestock in a humane manner.   Food halls give us the opportunity to feed that hunger.

Also, according to the New York Eater, food halls are “another sign of an urban and culinary renaissance that’s happened over the past decade,” that food markets and restaurants have been successful when they are a “destination” for consumers. Customers can find every gourmet food item imaginable, all in the same place, all ready to eat at communal dining areas or ready to take away and be prepared at home.    A food hall is a haven for artisanal and specialty purveyors, buzzy food stalls and upscale restaurants, and as Anthony Bourdain, American chef and television personality, tells M Live, “I think there’s a real appetite for more low-impact, more casual, yet good-quality meal options.  That goes along with a shift in dining habits in general.  On one hand we demand more variety, better quality, more options.  On the other, we seem fatigued with the conventions and time investment of a multi-course, full-service meal.”  So really, we aren’t heading in a direction opposite of convenience, but rather in the direction of local vendors and restaurateurs available to us in one single location.

In short, the food hall trend catching fire across the United States will allow consumers to shop for groceries, for toiletries, for beer, for wine, that is grown or made locally, while also having the option to dine on meals of the same quality.  When all is said and done, who won’t appreciate the convenience?

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