Dean & Deluca May Be Taking Over The Spice Market Duplex

Doors haven’t even closed yet at ginormous Asian-themed clubstaurant Spice Market, but word is that a new tenant is already in the works for the space: gourmet grocery chain Dean & Deluca. The Post cites sources who say landlord Midtown Equities will be bringing in the trendy grocer and cafe company after Spice Market closes on Thursday. It’s not clear how Dean & Deluca would set up shop, but the Soho-based company hasn’t shied away from behemoth spaces. In Kuwait, they have a restaurant that seats 300 people, and the company plans to open a new location here in New York at 40 Wall Street with both a big restaurant and a market.

Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Phil Suarez, and the Culinary Concepts team are closing their seminal mega-restaurant after the landlord decided to not renew the lease. Spice Market and its lychee martinis were a big deal in the trendy clubstaurant scene, and it ultimately spawned locations in Qatar and Mexico.

Dean & Deluca opened back in 1977 and has similarly opened lots of international locations over the years. It now has outposts in eight countries and four in New York City. The company was purchased by a franchisee a couple years ago for $140 million, with the intention of expanding even more. It will feel very different from Spice Market. Dean & Deluca's outposts tend to feel more like sunny daytime cafes than sceney nighttime clubstaurants.

But the dust hasn't settled yet. You can still get your final taste of Spice Market today and tomorrow.

• Dean & DeLuca coming to one of NYC’s foodie destinations [NYP]
• Drink a Lychee Martini Muddled With Tears Because Spice Market Is Closing Next Month [ENY]