Cork Market Opens

The long awaited extension of Cork, Cork Market, is set to open this Friday and we couldn’t be more optimistic about its potential.

Set to open on popular 14th Street, the market is billed as serving as a food and packaged goods market, but also a community gathering spot. In addition to selling the wines featured at the main restaurant across the street, local producers will showcase jams, dairy products and desserts.  Carry-out dishes will also be available, with nightly specials prepared by Blacksalt sous chef, Kristin Hutter.

We’re excited about the combination of goods offered at Cork Market, as well as the additional loft space they plan to make available for meetings and special exhibits.  While restaurants like Tryst and Busboys & Poets (and even Whole Foods to an extent) have tried to fill the role of community hub in the past, they seem to fall short in their ability to attact patrons who are interested in spending time there on a regular basis.  Maybe it’s our busy schedules to blame – or simply the nature of living in a bit city that have made it difficult to achieve such an organic environment.

Despite these challenges, we can’t help but think that with the right combination of features and the ability to manage crowds efficiently, a place might be able to fill this void and truly become a meeting and gathering place for neighborhood friends.  We’ll see if Cork Market holds that potential this Friday.

Cork Market’s hours will be: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

The Warehouse Theater, located between K and L on 7th Street by the Convention Center, will still house a concert space and jazz club (incorporating Warehouse Next Door), but the main entrance will move around the corner giving The Passenger the entrance on 7th Street.

We’re thrilled with the new addition, which seems like it might go a long way in bridging the gap between other bars and restaurants in Penn Quarter and along 14th Street.  With Againn having recently opened on 11th Street and The Space located just a bit North on N Street, the Passenger will hopefully have a natural niche market in the high-rise tenants that abound on nearby Mass. Ave.

Also apparently in the works by the brothers Brown?  The Columbia Room, set to open in early 2010.