Brooklyn's DeKalb Market Promises Ample Hills, Getting Close to Signing Katz's

The opening of the DeKalb Market Hall — the 60,000-square-foot subterranean market in downtown Brooklyn's City Point development — is still a year away, but organizer Anna Castellani already has about half of the vendors signed up and her team is currently scouring the city for the right purveyors to round out the offerings. "We're looking for a lot of mom and pop type places," says Castellani. "It's got to feel like New York and not a mall in Denver." She's aiming for a vibe similar to the one at L.A.'s hit Grand Central Market, not the new crop of NYC food halls. "I don't think they have the spirit right," she explains.

The newest additions to the roster include an outpost of Brooklyn's wacky flavored ice cream captains Ample Hills, Smorgasburg's fowl specialists Duck Season, and Brooklyn Night Market's Sunday Gravy, which makes Italian "Sunday sauce," just like nonnas of Brooklyn once did. These vendors join an already strong list that includes the Arepa Lady, Forcella Pizza, and Fletcher's Brooklyn Barbecue, each of which will have its own little space in the market and some of whom will have liquor licenses. For those who want to dine with friends who ordered from another vendor, there will be communal seating for two hundred and a park across the street (that's the size of Bryant Park), where diners can take their food.

Castellani also hopes to add several grocery and provisions vendors to the market, like a cheese maker who trained with Anne Saxelby and possibly a beer bar with growlers to go. There are plans for a grocery store, which may or may not be an outpost of Castellani's other project, Forager's Market, two full scale restaurants with garage doors that open on to the market, and a bar with games like bocce.

As for the much buzzed about outpost of Katz's, which has been in the midst of a will-they-won't-they debate, Castellani clarifies that the deli is almost definitely coming but the paperwork hasn't been signed quite yet. So, keep your fingers crossed.