Ceremony Coffee Roasters, Smoke BBQ and Washington D.C.-based pasta vendor Cucina Al Volo are among the new tenants signed up to open businesses at the Cross Street Market in South Baltimore.
Also on the way: “multiple unique Asian concepts,” a bakery and a local donut concept.
Caves Valley Partners, the private firm selected to operate and renovate the market for the City of Baltimore, this week announced the names of nine new and returning merchants.
According to its web site, the new merchants include:
- Locally based Ceremony Coffee Roasters, which will be the coffee vendor in the market. “Ceremony is a passionate and acclaimed purveyor of coffee and will play a key role in our efforts to drive more customers to the Market and the surrounding businesses,” the developer said.
- Smoke BBQ, owned and operated by former South Baltimore residents Josh White and Keith Thompson. “The Smoke team is working on lining up some exciting partnerships that will solidify their position atop the local BBQ rankings and make Baltimore a player on the national BBQ scene,” according to the announcement.
- A concept featuring “quirky home goods” from Sarah Simington, the owner of Blue Moon Too café on Light Street which is well known for its Cap’n Crunch French toast. “If her success to date is any indicator of the caliber of complementary, locally-owned stall this will be, we feel confident people will come from all over town and the region to buy from her and frequent food vendors while at the market.”
- D.C.-based Cucina Al Volo from Union Market will create freshly made pastas at the market, using exclusively locally sourced ingredients. “Their stand will likely sell equal amounts of uncooked pasta and pasta dishes cooked to order and will be a welcome addition to South Baltimore for diners and home chefs-alike.”
The redevelopment team also said it has reached agreements with five existing tenants to stay at the market “through the revitalization period and beyond.” The tenants identified are Steve’s Lunch, Fenwick Choice Meats, Kwon’s Fresh Produce, the Pretzel Twist and Nick’s Inner Harbor Seafood.
Caves Valley added that all existing Cross Street Market merchants have signed lease extensions to remain in the market through pre-development. “As we develop more refined plans and have better information,” it said, “we will begin to work on longer term arrangements with those choosing to remain.”
The developer said it will continue to round out its roster of existing and new market tenants to create “the ultimate Baltimore fresh food shopping and dining experience.” It said it anticipates adding “multiple unique Asian concepts,” “the fresh bakery that SoBo residents have wanted for years” and a local doughnut concept, among others.
Last fall, the Baltimore Public Markets Corporation selected Caves Valley to oversee a $6.5 million renovation of the market, with $4.5 million coming from Caves Valley and $2 million coming in public funds. Weeks after the deal fell through in February, the public markets corporation and Caves Valley announced it was back on.
A public hearing on the developer’s plan for a liquor license at the market will be held tomorrow in Annapolis.
This story has been corrected to reflect that the liquor license for which the developer applied would not apply to all of Cross Street Market.
