Anthony Bourdain — the sharp-tongued chef, gastronomic explorer, author and CNN personality — is getting back into the restaurant business.
He has signed a deal to open his first large-scale food market in Manhattan, which will reflect his passion for international street food, Page Six can exclusively reveal.
We’re told Bourdain has teamed up with New York entrepreneur Stephen Werther on the yet-to-be-named project, which could possibly be called Anthony Bourdain World Market. And it will spotlight “cuisines from all around the world,” as well as “give young chefs a showcase to strut their stuff” and “introduce Americans to Singapore-style street food.”
Bourdain, the former veteran chef of Brasserie Les Halles who hosts the hit series “Parts Unknown,” will bring his expertise and experience from dining all over the globe, our sources said. Werther, the CEO of WiNK Retail Group and a partner in the hip Bleecker Street Arts Club, declined to reveal the market’s location but said it’s part of a big development project.
He said the opening date will depend on the building’s completion. (Our guesses include 3 World Trade Center and Hudson Yards. Brookfield Place in Lower Manhattan has already announced its Eataly-esque French-focused market and food court, Le District, operated by Peter Poulakakos’ Poulakakos Group.)
Werther did comment: “We are ready to go with the concept, so we are going to be doing some very cool and unexpected pop-ups between now and the opening . . . showcasing different parts of what will be incorporated into the final big market. I am a huge foodie, so you can only imagine how much fun this project is to work on.”
And there’s a chance Bourdain’s deal could expand to multiple market locations in the future. Real estate broker Robert Futterman, who’s repping Bourdain and Werther, said of the location: “We are talking to every big developer in the city, and everybody wants them.”