Bougie Food Hall Named Foodhall To Gentrify 16th Street

Hey all you "foodies," two ex-investment bankers from London just stole your pipe dream of "opening something cool in the Mission." Bilal Mannaa and Yasamin Murtadha are swooping into the Mission — 16th and Valencia to be exact — with a food hall cleverly named Foodhall that’s designed to lure self-identifying foodies into its upscale environs. Like a Venus fly trap, Foodhall has been designed (by London architect William Tozer) with all the trendy trappings of a modern food concept in mind — think concrete floors, white walls, blonde wood and lots of light.

And rather than tall, skinny aisles of product (because that’s so not Instagrammable), the food will be broken up into "designated areas," specifically ones for cheese and charcuterie, Counter Culture coffee, hot food for takeaway (or eating at one of the few bar seats), wine, liquor, pastries and product. Mannaa and Murtadha are curating the products, which will rotate seasonally and be pulled in from across the globe. The products on display will inspire the hot food menu (overseen by Murtadha, who has a degree from London's Le Cordon Bleu), which will in turn inspire the bottles of wine for sale from master sommelier Eric Entrikin. Any prepared food not sold each day will be donated.

"People love shopping in farmers markets because you go out there, you walk around, you taste something, you buy something, you discover something new," Mannaa told Eater. "We wanted to capture the essence of that experience and bring it indoors." In that spirit, there will be recipe kits for sale and regular tastings, classes and events held in the space, which will be open early and open late. Foodhall is expected to open seven days a week in May.

A photo posted by F O O D H A L L (@foodhallsf) on Mar 26, 2016 at 2:17am PDT