The Dish
‘The hub of all hubs’
New food scene addition Dairy Market coming this fall By Caite Hamilton
STEPHEN BARLING
T
he folks behind Dairy Market, the much-anticipated food hall in the former Monticello Dairy building, want to make one thing clear: A food hall is not the same thing as a food court. “The modern food hall is about the celebration of food itself,” says Jodi Mills, director of marketing and public relations at Stony Point Development Group. “The food court was an amenity to the mall; it wasn’t [about] the food itself, but a convenience for the consumer who was at the mall shopping.” The upcoming food hall, Mills says, will be a real destination for good eats in Charlottesville, with vendors like Starr Hill Brewery, Chimm Street, Take It Away, and Eleva Coffee having already committed. And there’s more to come, which Mills says they’ll announce over the summer prior to an autumn soft open. As for the transformation of the building— which we’ve been keeping an eye on since the project broke ground in August of 2018— there are plenty of nods to its history. Black and white subway tiles harken back to the original Monticello Dairy ice cream parlor; windows throughout the building have been restored or refurbished; Old Virginia bricks were removed from the original space and scrubbed to look like new. Outside, a dairy cow mural on the side of the building pays tribute to the cow statue that once stood at the front of the building. And speaking of outside, Mills says the project includes more than 7,000 square feet of patio space, with catenary lighting, tables, chairs, music, and outdoor activities and events. “Anticipate that it will be the hub of all hubs,” she says.
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