Chelsea’s got one. So does the Meatpacking District. And now the South Bronx is getting a trendy new food hall, courtesy of developer Keith Rubenstein.
Rubenstein’s Somerset Partners closed Wednesday on the purchase of a 16,000-square-foot warehouse at 9 Bruckner Boulevard that he plans to convert into a Gansevoort Market-style food hall to be known as Bruckner Market, the developer told The Real Deal. The purchase price was $7.5 million.
Rubenstein, who is unequivocally bullish on the South Bronx, said he’d been eying the property for some time. The site is located across the street from the massive residential complex he is developing in partnership with the Chetrit Group. Plans for 9 Bruckner are still being hammered out, Rubenstein said, but he envisions a fresh food market, food kiosks, sit-down restaurants and possibly a beer garden.
“We have a great hospitality and restaurant concept that we want to do there,” he said. “It will provide great food and beverage options at affordable prices for the existing community and new community.”
Previously, the building housed a company that manufactured fire doors. Property records show the seller, Halman Enterprises, owned the site since 1997.
Built in the 1930s, the property can be expanded up to 30,000 square feet. Somerset plans to renovate the structure and add a penthouse with an outdoor beer garden and possibly a microbrewery. “It’s still early,” said Rubenstein, who aims to open Bruckner Market in the next 12 to 18 months.

therealdeal.com/2016/07/20/keith-rubenstein-to-bring-bruckner-market-food-hall-to-south-bronx/

It could be on track to debut next year
Chef Massimo Bottura has gained massive acclaim thanks to his Modena, Italy, restaurant Osteria Francescana, which was No. 1 on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list for 2016. Instead of letting the accolades go to his head, he's undertaken an attempt to combat hunger and food waste, both in Milan and Rio. Now, it appears he's eyeing a project in New York City.
A recent report in Italy's Bergamo Post (translated), revealed Bottura is working on a "dining hall" in the Bronx, though no further details were mentioned. While information surrounding the project remains scarce, a post on Bottura's Instagram account reveals it might be on track to debut in next year, and iconic actor Robert De Niro could be involved.

During the 2015 Milan Expo, Bottura launched Refettorio Ambrosiano. The chef created menus using leftover ingredients from the expo and served children and homeless shelters in the area. Refettorio claims to have eliminated 15 tons of food waste during the five-month expo, and it continues to operate by serving dishes made from local supermarket leftovers. Following up on that success, Bottura is launching Refettorio in Rio, where he and his team will use leftovers from the Olympic Village to feed residents of the city's favelas.
The Bronx venture is a collaboration with the Italian consul in New York, according to the Bergamoreport. If it is indeed an outpost for Bottura's Refettorio, as the Instagram copy suggests, the restaurant will bring Bottura's charitable campaign to the United States for the first time.

www.eater.com/2016/7/15/12202966/chef-massimo-bottura-bronx-restaurant