An established New York City restaurant and a startup fast casual café are both currently under construction in Hoboken, plus a local business is expanding their footprint on the city’s north end.
French-Moroccan bistro Barbès Restaurant just recently broke ground at a long-vacant storefront at 1300 Park Avenue. The Murray Hill eatery, on 36th Street just off Madison Avenue, is named after the famous Paris neighborhood at the foot of the Sacré-Coeur that’s known as a melting pot of Parisian and North African culture.
Locally-based OLMK Architects, who also designed Gogi Grill, drew up the plans for the restaurant, which should add some legitimate diversity to Hoboken’s food scene. Their menu will include more traditional items like Steak Frites and Moules, but will also feature Brochettes, Couscous and other Tagine dishes, which they should start serving up sometime this Fall.
On the city’s main drag, a startup fast casual option is taking over the old Foot Locker space. Quality Greens Kitchen will be opening at 227 Washington Street and looks to bridge the gap between quick service and fine dining. Their mission statement is to “one-up” other highly successful salad chains and farm-to-table concepts by offering sophisticated lunch and dinner options designed and prepared on-site by an authentic culinary team.
The restaurant will offer up chef-designed salads with homemade dressings and combo plates comprised of protein-based entrees, whole grains, and creative vegetable dishes. Soups and grab-and-go offerings will also be part of the space, which was drawn up by New York Design Architects. The business expects the build out of the restaurant to be complete in about 10 weeks.
Elsewhere next to the 14th Street Viaduct, local cooking school business Hudson Table is preparing to open a brand new, 1,150 square foot space that will primarily be used for private events and some additional classes. The storefront, adjacent to their 1403 Clinton Street home, will sport an industrial look with exposed duct work and feature a projection screen for entertaining.
The expansion, which will open May 15th, was created out of the need for more event venues in Hoboken. “Our current space is always booked, so there is a big need in the community for this,” says owner Allen Bari. He told Jersey Digs that the new spot will allow them to offer more public events, which include a CSA partnership with Blooming Hill Farm that starts May 31st and upcoming summer classes for kids that begin after July 4th.
And finally, local makeup junkies can rejoice. Sephora will be taking up residence at 319 Washington Street, a mixed-use property that’s currently being rebuilt. At the developer’s request, the Planning Board signed off on some minor changes to the layout of one of the building’s two retail spaces in March to accommodate the French cosmetics brand, who should start construction of their own when the development is completed later this year.
