A Peek Inside Le District

Flowers by Yasmine at Le DistrictExciting news about Le District: The French marketplace debuting soon* at Brookfield Place will feature a local vendor. Tribeca’s own Yasmine Karrenberg, of Flowers by Yasmine, is opening the flower stall (that’s it pictured above). Yasmine’s clients include Soho design store Ochre; Wallsé, Cafe Sabarsky, and Blaue Gans; marketing company CreativeFeed; Pier A; and many private Tribeca Families.

She invited me over the other day for a sneak peek. Le District is going to look very good! It has significantly more style than Pier A (another big HPH Hospitality Group project); it feels related to Hudson Eats directly above, but also different. From the Winter Garden, you enter to see the chocolatier, café, and patisserie (which will serve ice cream), and beyond those are the bread, cheese, meat, fish, and prepared foods counters. Many of the stalls will include dining counters—the patisserie will serve crepes, for instance—to make it feel as much of a food hall as a market. And there will be a decor shop inside the market, designed to resemble a Paris apartment.

I also got to check out the huge bar right off of Le District (can’t recall the name or exactly where it is—the windows were still covered, so it was easy to get disoriented) and a private dining room. The bar is pictured in the second image in the Commercial Observer’s recent article.

*HPH general manager Laurent Vasseur said the café area would likely open on Wednesday, March 25, with Le District’s full opening on the subsequent weekend, March 28 and 29 (because if it opened on a weekday it’d get slammed by workers from Brookfield Place).

Le District coffee and patisserieLe District entrance from Winter GardenLe District boulangerie and beyondAnd the reader who goes by Hudson River says the windows are just now being uncovered—and even better, HR sent over some photos.

Le DistrictLe DIstrict2

 

7 Comments

  1. Thanks for the interior shots! This looks great. Ice cream—yay!

  2. Finally! But will it lean more towards an Eataly and cater to tourists? Or could this be a legit French market that locals can splurge at? I’m expecting sticker shock either way…

  3. I think they will get both-you need both to survive. I spoke with someone in charge of the market and he said they definitely want the locals, all new yorkers and beyond (that live in metro area) to consider it ‘their’ french market. They would like the sea of 9-5 business folks to feel like it is their home too. There are a lot of french comforts at all price points within the floor plan from what I heard- from crepes, to fresh bread, to artisan cheeses, ice cream…..
    The person in charge of project mentioned in article, Laurent, also lives in Lower Manhattan with his family, as does the exec chef, etc. So no, I do not think this is like an eataly (just) for the tourists, it was designed by locals for all to enjoy.

  4. Whoa whoa whoa whoa – you don’t like Pier A??

  5. Looking forward to this.

    Pier A is a colossal disappointment. Cheesy, touristy, better suited for midtown. I feared it might be, given its proximity to the Statue of Liberty boats. But I was really hoping that gorgeous building wouldn’t be wasted. Alas.

    • I agree with Darren. Pier A will become a tourist spot only. If they had good food, locals would be happy to eat there. Unfortunately, the food is just not very good. It is a pretty basic, pub fare type of menu, so I wonder why it is so hard to get those items done well.

  6. Since when is Eataly just a tourist spot????

    Pier A agreed the food is aweful but I keep going back for the view, beautiful bldg, beer and oysters. Just don’t order dinner.

    Lastly, why do you guys use “tourist” like a dirty word? If you don’t like tourist, don’t bother coming near the WTC or Le District

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