Haven, the new restaurant from owner Daniel Patterson and chef Kim Alter in the Jack London Market complex in Oakland, has been bringing in new foot traffic at a steady clip to the long desolate area at the eastern end of Jack London Square. As the SF Business Times reports today, developers have scrapped plans for the enormous, interior public market planned for the same building, which was to be modeled on Seattle’s Pike Place Market and the Ferry Building; they are now, instead, looking for food manufacturing tenants to fill the vacant space.
Meanwhile, there are spaces for three more restaurants in the 170,000-square-foot complex, none of which have signed leases. One of those was supposed to be a European delicatessen called Mia Filino from Bar Bambino owner Christopher Losa, a project that got shelved a few years back along with Patterson’s. We’ve reached out to Losa for an update but have not heard back.
The loss of the marketplace project, which many in the East Bay had looked forward to, is a blow. But perhaps more business owners will be encouraged by the success of Haven, assuming it continues. As of now, interest in the new restaurant has tables getting booked weeks in advance for Friday and Saturday nights. We can vouch for the food: It’s good.
Update: A rep for developer Jim Ellis contacted Grub Street with a bit of an update. The market hasn’t been nixed so much as the concept is changing to feature food stalls that would be connected to onsite food producers, like chocolatiers, butchers, etc. No tenants are yet on board. [Grub Street]
Haven starts strong in Jack London Market [SF Biz Times]
Earlier: What to Eat at Haven, Opening Today in Oakland
Jack London Square’s future remains uncertain [Chron]
