San Mateo-based Tastes on the Fly,
which runs the Perry's and
Yankee Pier concessions in the international terminal, is behind the
market (for the wine component, it's partnering with San Francisco-based Vino Volo, which currently runs 10
airport wine bars around the country). Tastes on
the Fly CEO Michael Levine calls Napa Farms Market "a cross between the Ferry
Building Marketplace and the Oakville Grocery." In fact, the
architects who are building out the space also worked on the Ferry
Building and the Jack London Square Marketplace.
Gavin Newsom
called the Napa Farms Market a "farmers'
market" at a press event last week, but it will have very little
fresh produce. "Let's face it, green beans are not what you're going to buy at
an airport," Levine says."You'd take a picture of them and say, 'Only
in San Francisco.'"
There will be some dining tables, but the market is primarily
set up to sell local products ― from Cowgirl Creamery cheese to Acme
bread to bottles of wine ― that
customers can take with them. Equator
Coffees will be running an 800-square-foot cafe in the front, the
San Rafael roaster's first retail store and cafe; Equator owners Helen
Russell and Brooke McDonnell say they'll have a pour-over bar in addition
to the espresso machines and standard brewed coffee for grab-and-go drinkers. In the back, Levine says, will be a station for wood-fired pizza,
sandwiches, and an express version of the Tyler Florence Rotisserie
about to open in Napa.
