Le District

FiDi-focused restaurant mogul Peter Poulakakos has launched a whopping 10 projects south of Chambers Street (Dead Rabbit, Pier A Harbor House), but this industrial-styled French-food complex is his largest undertaking yet. The 30,000-square-foot market is divided into a bakery-café, meat and cheese stalls, an open-air grocery shop and the sit-down brasserie, Beaubourg. “This is not a food court, it’s a cultural experience,” says Poulakakos. “In each pocket there are different influences—from Tunisia, Vietnam, even New Orleans.” At the zinc-topped coffee counter, pour-overs of house-blended Stone Street Coffee accompany sweet and savory crêpes, French pastries (éclairs, gallettes) and chocolates imported by France’s La Cure Gourmande. Wander deeper into the market quadrant, which includes a boulangerie serving fresh breads and baguette sandwiches, cheesemongers hawking Swiss, Canadian and French curds to complement local charcuterie, and a florist helmed by Flowers by Yasmine. In the garden section you'll find grab-and-go dishes like boeuf bourguignonne and grocery items including imported Moroccan coffee and fresh local produce. Just ahead is the restaurant-bar area, where servers navigate between booths in Beaubourg’s white-tiled dining room, delivering modern Gallic classics, such as garlic-sautéed frog legs over spaetzle. Le Bar, the bistro’s cocktail den, offers a soapstone bar and white-marble high tops for unwinding with a glass of vin, while the forthcoming L’appart tasting-menu chef’s table presents 10 to 12 greenmarket-driven courses to guests sitting inside the living-room–inspired space.