FOOD HALLS
with marshmallows, Lesser said.
Amy Allen’s healthy juice bar offers fruit smoothies, açaí bowls, smoothies, cold-pressed juice, detox shots and cleanses. Creative toasts on sourdough or nine-grain “fitness bread” are topped with avocado and cherry tomatoes, smoked salmon and creme fraiche, blackberries and Brie and beet with feta.
Naturally, bread is the star at The Grazing Goat, with housemade spreads like roasted eggplant with tahini, artichoke with cream cheese and horseradish, black bean and red pepper chevre. Grazing boards in two sizes feed one to four people, with choice of spreads and “mains” like prosciutto and salami, various cheeses and seasonal vegetable carpaccio. Sandwiches are served on Whole G’s Roman-style bread, including Caprese, turkey and roast beef options.
East Rock’s expansion is also continuing. Panicale chef Carlos Rojas will head up a new Mexican spot next to the pizza and pasta stall called Taqueria de Rojas, with tacos, ceviche and other Mexican street food. Narang also wants to add two more restaurants in a second phase of development, potentially featuring ramen and Middle Eastern food.
East Rock Market is at 285 Nicoll St., New Haven.
The Assembly Room, New Britain
Developer Dan Czyzewski says he wanted to create a “one of a kind” living experience in the five-story New Britain building at 222 Main Street, a historic warehouse that was converted into 44 apartment units with ground-level retail space.
“The idea was to create a trendy destination spot while offering the residents in the building an amenity,” he said.
Assembly Room debuted in November, including Fowl Play, with Nashville-style hot chicken; Burrito Loko, with burritos, rice bowls, quesadillas and tacos, and Las Tortas MX, with Mexicanstyle sandwiches. Parkville Market fans will recognize these brands, as owners Enrique and Julie Rodriguez also operate those three restaurants at the Hartford food hall.
Nikko, a sushi and ceviche concept, celebrates Nikkei-style cuisine, which fuses Japanese and South American flavors and cooking styles. The menu features sushi rolls with Peruvian lomo saltado, octopus, rocoto pepper aioli and passion fruit sauce, along with traditional fish, shrimp and seafood ceviches with onion, potato and Peruvian corn.
Brothers Andres and Marlon Soriano are also no stranger to food halls, having opened Que Chivo at Parkville in 2020 with Salvadoran pupusas, tamales and empanadas. At Assembly room, they’ve opened The Industrial bar, with craft cocktails, wine, beer and cheese and charcuterie.
The Sorianos are also opening Industrial Kitchen, with panini sandwiches, soups and grab-andgo options, Czyzewski said. Assembly Room also welcomed Miel Cafe, a coffee spot, in early February.
Industrial Kitchen replaces Creole BBQ, one of the food hall’s original restaurants. The Louisiana-style barbecue concept came courtesy of Vincent Placeres of MofonGo, a Puerto Rican eatery with three Hartford County restaurants. Placeres said he is now offering Creole BBQ’s food through a ghost-kitchen setup at MofonGo’s New Britain location.
Assembly Room is at 222 Main St., New Britain.
Parkville Market in Hartford plans future expansion
Parkville Market isn’t done growing. Developer Carlos Mouta is launching a second phase of expansion, with plans to renovate a building next to the current food hall space in Hartford’s Parkville neighborhood.
“The Hall at Parkville Market” will have a 12,000-square-foot, multi-use space for events, Mouta says, and another 5,000 square feet of space where he’s thinking of building a catering kitchen. The new building may also feature a new bar, and larger kiosks for food vendors that need more space than the food hall’s 200-to-400square-foot halls.
Across the street, Hog River Brewing Co. has outgrown its current location and will relocate to a space next door to the market, part of its “campus,” Mouta says. He envisions introducing a new point-of-sale system that will allow brewery visitors to order food from the diverse lineup of vendors.
In the current building, the upper floor features semi-private dining rooms, but Mouta always envisioned that floor as space for retail opportunities. He’d like to bring in a candy store or amenities like shoe repair.
A new addition to the market’s main hall is The Lettuce Bar, with a menu of salads and soups, part of an effort to offer more healthy options, Mouta says. He is also considering some higher-end concepts and full-service dining.