Construction on a gourmet grocery shop and a wine bar will soon begin at Patrick Turner's Silo Point condominium tower.
Hospitality consultant Peter Yaffe is cooking up plans for a store where
Silo Point residents can pick up a sandwich, coffee, prepared foods and a bottle of wine.
Construction on the 2,200-square-foot business, called FoodLifePoint, should begin in the next month or so. Yaffe describes the style of the design-heavy store as "cozy industrial chic," much like the condo tower itself. He has hired Silo Point's architect, Chris Pfaeffle of Baltimore's Parameter Inc., to design the store.
FoodLifePoint's features will include wireless Internet access, HD TVs, and seating overlooking the harbor. The store will employ between 60 and 75. If all goes well, Yaffe plans to open more stores like it throughout the U.S., one of which could be built at Patrick Turner's Westport development in South Baltimore.
Yaffe's previous experience includes LFB Enterprises, where he was president of a Maryland hospitality group that included catering, a restaurant, a nightclub, and a gourmet-to-go food operation. He has also run high-volume seafood restaurants in Florida and was director of operations of Capital Restaurant Concepts, the Washington, D.C. restaurant group that includes Paolo's Ristorante and J. Paul's Dining Saloon.
Meanwhile, the folks behind the
13.5% wine bar in Hampden are opening a wine bar at Silo Point. No word yet on the name of the 2,600-square-foot store, expected to open in April at 1200 Steuart St.
Wayne Laing, of 13.5%, declined to comment on his latest wine bar.
"They're both great concepts for the neighborhood," Turner says of FoodLifePoint and the wine bar. "I'm not real big on chain restaurants. Restaurants of this caliber are very site specific and we want that uniqueness for Silo Point."
The condo tower also features Mexican restaurant Miguel's Cocina y Cantina and Priv� Salon and Spa.
Writer: Julekha Dash
Sources: Peter Yaffe, FoodLife Point; Patrick Turner, Turner Development Group LLC