When we look to some of our favourite examples of food halls around the world, New York’s Smorgasberg market, Copenhagen’s Paper Island and even Sydney’s David Jones come to mind — places where casual dining merges with market stalls, proffered by skilled chefs and enjoyed in a bustling environment. The beauty of it all? The ability to browse an array of tantalising street food eats and regional delicacies until just the right thing takes your fancy.

The hotly anticipated downtown development, Commercial Bay, is set to introduce this varied style of communal dining to Auckland in 2019. Inside the multi-level edifice, located at the crossroads of Queen and Customs Streets, will be Harbour Eats, a space dedicated to providing a melting pot of boutique food offerings on the scale not seen before on these shores.

Precinct Properties (the company responsible for Commercial Bay’s fruition) has brought on board one of the world’s most respected names in hospitality design, New York-based AvroKO. The adept team — charged with projects across America, Europe and Asia — will bring the dynamic, 700-seat space to life by capitalising on the lofty 10-metre stud and open air atriums, as well as introducing plenty of natural greenery and foliage. The result promises varied eating spaces and an ambient bar area that evolves from morning to night, catering to solo diners and large groups alike.

Poised to lure in some of the most famed names on the local street food and food truck scene, who will peddle their delectable offerings alongside more established restaurant names, diners can expect everything from poké pitstops to haute pâtisseries and much more while many operators will swap out or evolve their offering from day to night. With plans to install what AvroKO are dubbing a ‘wall of fire’ — a zone dedicated to all things ‘barbecue’ — amongst other attractions, there’s no denying that Harbour Eats is going to be an action-packed destination for all of Auckland’s gastronomic whims.

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