Bourdain scrap plan for giant $60m food market in New York

Anthony Bourdain has been forced to abandon his plan to open a $60million 155,000 sq.ft. food hall in New York in 2019.

‘Bourdain Market’ at Manhattan’s Pier 57 was meant to host some 100 food stalls and restaurants, but the celebrity chef has now said it is unlikely to happen.

The 61-year-old said the launch had ‘proven to be challenging at every turn’ and that  ‘the stars may not align’ at the Pier 57 site he had in mind.

Abandon ship: Anthony Bourdain had ambitious plans to open  a 155,000sq.ft. food hall on New York’s Pier 57 in 2019, but he has now scrapped the idea

Bourdain first announced his plans for Bourdain Market in 2014, with the aim of opening the following year.

However, come 2015, he told the New York Times that he had been forced to push the opening date for the ‘$60million’ project to 2017.

Bourdain had his eye on a site at Pier 57, a former shipping and cargo facility currently under construction and due to open as a retail shopping mall and offices in 2019.

But the celebrity chef suffered several setbacks, including issues obtaining visas for his intended vendors and securing a lease for the site on the Hudson River.

Last year, he said that a new opening date had been set for 2019, when the rest of Pier 57 is due to open its doors, but as of last week he appears to have scrapped the idea completely.

No luck: Bourdain had been trying to obtain a lease for a 155,000 sq.ft venue inside the Pier 57 site, pictured far right, which is under development

No luck: Bourdain had been trying to obtain a lease for a 155,000 sq.ft venue inside the Pier 57 site, pictured far right, which is under development

Not giving up: Bourdain, pictured last week,  said he still hopes to open Bourdain Market in New York at a different site

Not giving up: Bourdain, pictured last week,  said he still hopes to open Bourdain Market in New York at a different site

He has now announced that he has been forced to drop the plans for Bourdain Market at Pier 57, admitting that he still does not have a lease for the site.

 ‘Launching what is admittedly a very ambitious venture has proven to be challenging at every turn,’ he said in a statement to Eater New York. 

‘It seems increasingly clear that in spite of my best efforts, the stars may not align at Pier 57, which is an especially complicated site for which we still do not have a lease.’

He added that the hopes to still launch Bourdain Market in New York at a different site, saying ‘I still passionately wish to create this resource that New Yorkers deserve.’  



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk