Lincoln South Food Hall

Casual dining, take-away, grab-and-go

Bellevue continues to grow in many ways, and food offerings are skyrocketing. Independent restaurants, vs. chains, are growing in number. What's missing? That's what business entrepreneurs and Eastside residents, Paul and Elaina Herber, along with their partner, Jeffrey Frederick of Elite Brand Hospitality Group, were asking themselves.

"We specifically started thinking there was a need for this in Bellevue about a year and a half ago," says Jeffrey. "It was apparent after touring Bellevue, seeing its incredible growth, dynamic mix of downtown residential, office, retail and hotel mix, there was nothing like it downtown. That said, I have studied food halls here in the USA, Middle East, and Asia for the past six years, developed a couple of food halls, along with some of the biggest and most upscale buffets and food courts in Las Vegas. After presenting the idea to Kemper Development we, along with our culinary and beverage team, went on a 15-food-hall pilgrimage in LA, Seattle, New York, and Atlanta." Says Elaina, "Paul and I live in the area. We recognized what the marketplace was missing, namely a food hall that could deliver an authentic food experience with an emphasis on regional sourcing."

Opened in December 2017, Lincoln South Food Hall will contain seven venues. "Food Halls fall into two groups, single operator and co-tenants. Interestingly, LSFH is both. It's largely comprised of our six restaurants and Dote Coffee. In addition to our food hall, we share our floor with three full-service restaurants, one above us and several below us. Our curated restaurants are diverse and complement the neighborhood restaurant mix nicely," Jeffrey continues. Elaina adds, "Our mission is to bring great food and hospitality to the downtown area, but in a quick-service format that we feel is largely underrepresented. Our food is familiar, but leans forward in bold creative ways. We are also inspired to work with local suppliers and food artisans to support our community. Additionally, we are paying homage to the hi-tech nature of our city of offering tech-forward delivery, to-go, and grab-and-go self-service options."

Venues include:

Baguette Epicerie, French-inspired sandwiches with take away provisions.

Barrio Luchador, street tacos highlighting grilled meats off a trompo (vertical roasting spit)

Fat & Feathers, with new-style bao sandwiches and noodle slurp shop

Avo-Poké, organic salads and poke bowls

Crosta E Vino, pizza, plates, and wine

Burger Brawler, tap room, prime burgers, gravy fries

Dote Coffee, from Eastside resident and owner Sarah Doud, locally roasted, small batch coffee, world-class chocolate, handmade ice cream and artisan booze

Beverages range from specialty cocktails to local craft beers and wines on tap.

Executive Chef Daniel Laferriere will be heading up the kitchens for the Food Hall. He has held leading positions with Wolfgang Puck, Guy Savoy, and Daniel Boulud in Las Vegas. "This is a great opportunity for me to take the principals of fine dining and translate them to the Food Hall. Our food will be approachable, yet will deploy the same philosophy of using high caliber native ingredients and solid technique," Daniel says.

Paul Herber grew up in Bellevue. As he and Elaina and Jeffrey looked for ways to work together, he called Kemper Development and learned about the expansion and development of the Bellevue Collection, Lincoln South Office/Residential, and the W Hotel. Jeffrey and Elaina met a couple of years back on a project for a national restaurant group. "We quickly became friends and have an admiration for each other's driven nature and love of the hospitality industry," recalls Jeffrey. "After meeting Paul, who's background is finance, real estate and logistics, combining that with Elaina's IT, marketing, and management expertise, and my restaurant development and operations background, it was apparent we should partner to develop restaurants together." And that's how these things happen.

There's more to come from this group. Winter 2018 will see the opening of Ascend Prime Steak & Sushi on the 31 ^st floor of the Lincoln South Tower. The good news keeps on coming.

Lincoln South Food Hall
500 Bellevue Way, Ste 250
Bellevue, WA 98004

lincolnsfh.com

Connie Adams/December 2017