Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

NYC’s Gotham West Market: Talking to One of The Men Behind the Market

Matt Domino
By

gotham west market 12
The Gotham West Market, Manhattan’s newest, large-scale collection of high-end food and drink purveyors—as well as one of the city’s most respected bike shops—opened for business this past December.  The Market, part of the luxurious (and also brand new) Gotham West apartment building, contains dining areas, store fronts and learning spaces from Blue Bottle Coffee, The Brooklyn Kitchen, Cannibal, El Colmado, Genuine Roadside, Court Street Grocers, Little Chef, Ivan Ramen, and NYC Velo.

We’ve already covered NYC Velo’s take on the Gotham Market experience; and there are plenty of articles praising the dishes and services offered by the food and drink vendors. So, we at The Manual wanted to take a look at some of the bigger picture thinking behind the Market as a whole.

Related Videos

We chatted with Chris Jaskiewicz, the COO of the Gotham Organization (the developers of the Gotham West apartments and Market), to find the story behind this new addition to Manhattan’s far west side.

When and why did the Gotham West Market first originate?

Well, the original plan for the apartment building started back in 2011, and we broke ground on the development in 2012.  It was around that time that we started reaching out to possible chefs and vendors to be incorporated into the Market.

Was the vision for the project always the same? Did the type of vendors you wanted change along the way?

We did extensive research into the type of people and the type of food we wanted represented in the Market. The Gotham Organization has a long history of high-end developments and we wanted to make sure that was the case here as well.  So, we made sure that the chefs and owners we spoke to fit in with that mindset of ours. We wanted people that would be willing to work as a part of “team” concept to benefit the Market overall; benefit the diversity of the services we could offer our residents as well as anyone traveling to the Market as a destination.

What kind of relationship does the Gotham Organization have with the chefs at each of the restaurants in the Market?

During the entire process, we had very open and honest relationships with each of our purveyors. We were meeting with these people once a month for about twelve months to ensure that we were all on the same page with how each vendor would be represented and how the entire Market would be represented and work together. We all worked very closely.

We’ve already interviewed Andrew Crooks of Velo NYC. Why was it so important to have a bike shop incorporated into the Market?

To put it simply: the Hudson bike path. I mean, you have the longest greenway in Manhattan right outside of our building and we wanted to encourage our residents to be a part of that. NYC Velo is one of the most respected bike shops in New York and we thought that our residents and anyone visiting the Market would value their level of service and expertise.

So far, is there any aspect of the market that is your favorite?

I like walking around the Market from about 10 AM to noon. I recommend that anyone visiting the space go at those hours. I say that because you get to see all of the preparations that the chefs, these highly trained and highly skilled professionals, make before the business of the day. We wanted our residents and guests to have a full view of our chefs at work and I just find the preparation process especially interesting.

Do you have any future plans for the Gotham West Market as it moves beyond its first year of existence?

Just constant improvement. We are always looking to make things better. We’ve already been improving the signage around the Market so that residents and guests can orient themselves better. We’re also preparing and adding seating for the upcoming warm weather when we can open the glass and take advantage of that space.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
A New Cookbook from a Leading Voice of West Coast Barbecue
Pitmaster Matt Horn stoking a fire for bbq.

Pitmaster Matt Horn is a self-taught craftsman. On most days, the California native is busy smoking and perfecting a unique culinary art -- West Coast-style barbecue. As a leading authority on this unique barbecue region, Horn's accolades are many, ranging from his acclaimed Horn Barbecue restaurant (awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand) in Oakland, California, to being named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs in America.

Now, Horn has authored a new cookbook, Horn Barbecue: Recipes and Techniques from a Master of the Art of BBQ, documenting every glorious detail of his distinctive style. The book is a testament to Horn's passion for the art of barbecue, a craft that represents a greater life purpose beyond the accolades.
"I just wanted to do something for once that wasn't driven by money, but something that touched my soul, something that really moved me," said Horn.
West Coast Style Barbecue
Pitmaster Matt Horn

Read more
Blue Apron vs. HelloFresh — Which is Best in 2022?
A HelloFresh meal kit next to a selection of vegetables

With no shortage of meal kit delivery services to be found, it can be hard to know which is the one for you. Blue Apron and HelloFresh are two of the biggest firms, and they both look super appealing. To help you figure out which one is the best choice for your home, we've taken a deep dive look into what they both offer. We've evaluated their ease of use, how creative their recipes are, and what to expect when it comes to pricing. Read on while we take you through everything you need to know about the two meal kit delivery services so you know exactly which one is right for you.
Ease of Use
If you're looking to sign up for a meal kit delivery service, it's very likely that how easy they are to use is the main reason why you want one. After all, you could head out and buy ingredients and figure out recipes for yourself, but that's hardly the point. Instead, Blue Apron and HelloFresh are all about convenience and saving you the need to plan for yourself or even head to the store to buy meal ingredients. Think of it as like a middle ground between cooking entirely from scratch and ordering takeout food. However you approach your plan, signing up is a breeze in either case. They both deliver to the continental U.S. states excluding Hawaii and Alaska with both services allowing you to choose a delivery day based on your zip code. Essentially, you won't have to worry about delivery being restricted to a time that you can't do.

When it comes to Blue Apron, you sign up with an email address and password of your own choosing, then you can pick out what kind of plan you want. Blue Apron gives you the choice of picking out meals for either two or four people, and you're also able to choose between two, three, or four recipes per week. Preferences are laid out with three choices -- Signature, Wellness, and Vegetarian. We'll get into what those meals involve but basically, Signature is the all-rounder while Wellness focuses on carb-conscious and WW recommended options, with Vegetarian offering up meat-free dishes. From there, you enter your payment details and delivery information, and you're ready to start adding meals. It's as simple as that with Blue Apron clearly laying out what to expect when it comes to payment each week.

Read more
Gary Vaynerchuk’s NFT Restaurant Coming To NYC Next Year
Flyfish Club's graphic images of potential sushi meals that can be accessed via NFT next year in New York City.

It’s an old-school idea in a new world package: access to Manhattan’s new Flyfish Club will be restricted to exclusive members. Your ticket? A cryptocurrency NFT, or non-fungible token.

On January 18, the VCR Group-founded venture announced that it’s coming to Manhattan early next year as the world’s “first NFT restaurant." In order to partake of the “globally inspired” seafood menu, diners will need to flash Flyfish digital tokens. And if you choose to move on from the Flyfish Club? Simply sell or lease your membership token on the secondary market. This secondary market is, in fact, already booming.

Read more