Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on March 8, 2022

A new downtown food and dining destination, known as High Street Place, has officially opened its doors in Boston.

Located between 160 Federal St. and 100 High St. in the citys Financial District, it features 20 distinct vendors across its 20,000 square foot floorspace in the five story tall atrium located between the two buildings.

While the food hall opened to much fanfare and celebration on Wednesday, March 2, it came two years later than originally anticipated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on society particularly the absence of business workers, social outings and restaurant dining in downtown all core pillars to the food halls success.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu spoke to organizers, food hall restaurant owners and those in attendance before its 10 a.m. opening to the general public, saying it was heartwarming to see the project bring life back into the space and to downtown.

Downtown, for a while, became a ghost town, she said, highlighting the absence of many people who would have frequented the food hall in the two years it laid dormant after its original March 2020 opening was dashed.

[High Street Place] will represent a collection of the citys most cutting-edge chefs and entrepreneurs and a home for downtown to continue blossoming, Wu said.

Boston Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion Segun Idowu, City Council President Ed Flynn and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu at the food hall's opening on Wednesday.

She added that part of the citys comeback from COVID is bringing the new vitality of the food court into every part of the city.

Let us make sure that we continue building on that legacy of bringing each and every one of our neighborhoods into downtown, bringing the energy downtown into each and every one of our neighborhoods, and making sure that our collective recovery leaves us stronger, more vibrant, healthier, and more connected across our entire city, she said.

Segun Idowu, the citys chief of economic opportunity and inclusion, echoed the mayors words.

He said that the space created at High Street Place can be replicated across the city using the creativity and vibrancy on display at the food hall.

Idowu said making the space and area around the food hall sustainable, vibrant, accessible, open and inclusive for all Bostonians and visitors to the city is the top priority of his cabinet.

Were here to make sure that when the workforce returns, that theyre able to take advantage of spaces like this and many others, Idowu added alongside the mayor and City Council President Ed Flynn.

Fred Borges, managing director of Rockpoint Group, a private equity firm which helped bring the food hall to fruition, said the project first started in Spring 2017 when the previously underutilized atrium began to be reimagined.

In the creation of the space, no detail was overlooked, Borges said. Everything was deliberately designed to offer the public the best possible experience in Bostons downtown neighborhood.

He noted the space paid tribute to the history of 160 Federal St. through its Art Deco style details in addition to an assorted greenwall in the atrium featuring 4,000 individual lights, a 28 by 11 foot screen for multi-content viewing and rectangular acoustical panels in the atriums window boxes.

The High Street Place Food Hall had its grand opening on Wednesday March 2, two years after it was supposed to open in 2020.

Boston is a resilient city that knows how to move forward in the face of adversity, Borges said, thanking vendors for their continued commitment to the exceptional project and for their patience throughout the delay in opening.

On Wednesday, vendors also offered a taste of the world with Gorgeous Gelato offering Italian ice cream, Fuji at High Street Place specializing in Japanese cuisine, Kutzu specializing in Southeast Asian and Korean cuisines and HumOveh offering Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines.

One of those vendors is Rachel Miller Munzer, one of seven co-owners of Mamalehs, a Jewish delicatessen with two other locations in Cambridge and Brookline, alongside sister restaurants State Park and Vincents.

Miller Munzer called the opening on Tuesday exciting, adding that it was a long time in the making.

She said that opening in 2020 certainly wasnt the right time, but feels the timing of Wednesdays opening is right and hoped for a busy first day.

The deli has been previously based in neighborhoods outside the hustle and bustle of the downtown and Miller Munzer said while the food hall means stepping outside their comfort zone as a co-owned business, Mamalehs is a fitting concept for the crowds and residents of downtown out for business, meet-ups and entertainment.

Miller Munzer noted that for the food halls vendors, while the wait to open is finally over, for some, the food hall has been their only project, leaving them on hold for two years.

Even though theres all this fanfare, and its very exciting, I think its really important for people to remember that restaurants are really struggling still, and that the pandemic is not actually over, Miller Munzer said, adding it will still be a while before businesses fully recover.

Click here for MassLives Facebook Live of the food hall.

High Street Place Food Hall officially opened on Wednesday March 2, two years after it was supposed to open in 2020.

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Continued here:

High Street Place officially opens in downtown Boston, after two year delay, with 20 vendors ready to welcome - MassLive.com

Category: Jewish Cuisine
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