NY’s Fastest-Growing Food Hall Announces First of Many D.C. Locales | Eater DC

"A next‑gen food‑hall operator plans to open a location off U Street (1925 14th Street NW) this year; a spokesperson told Eater it will feature a handful of celebrity-backed stalls with dishes from Michael Symon, Marcus Samuelsson, Bobby Flay, Nancy Silverton, and José Andrés. The operator recruits superstar chefs to lend their names and recipes and to co-develop exclusive concepts (in New York that includes Andrés’ Spanish tapas spot Jota). Kitchens vary in size — the biggest can produce food from up to 25 restaurant brands at a time — and the in‑house culinary team prepares everything on-site. Diners can order across brands on a single tab (examples cited include a pizza from Brooklyn’s Di Fara or a Samuelsson-certified fried chicken sandwich), get takeout, or stroll in and eat just like at a sit‑down spot. Backed by deep pockets from founder Marc Lore — who made his billions as Walmart’s e‑commerce exec and last fall bought established food‑ordering platform GrubHub for $600 million — the operator touts a door‑to‑door delivery time of 30 minutes or less and has rapidly expanded to 35 locations across New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania in two years, with plans to continue growing (including announcements of restaurant lineups for D.C. storefronts closer to opening, and partnerships with local chefs)." - Tierney Plumb