The much-anticipated Union Market opens this Saturday—check back here shortly for details on what you can expect on opening day. Meanwhile, though, we thought we’d share some new-to-us information we learned from Robb Duncan of Dolcezza, the well-loved local gelato chain.
Dolcezza has long been counted among the vendors at the project, developed by New York-based Edens. But Duncan—who will open a new Dolcezza cafe at Edens’ Mosaic District project in Merrifield, Virginia—says he has no plans to open a stand inside the market at 1390 Fifth Street, Northeast. Instead, Dolcezza is working on a new production facility at nearby 550 Penn Street. Dolcezza will move out of the current 300-square-foot production facility in Georgetown and spread out into 4,000 square feet of the new space. The gelato-making process will be open to the public, and Duncan says he plans to install a bar where customers can taste the frozen treats as soon as they are ready. He also hopes to hold gelato-making classes. “We’ll be hardcore about education,” he says. The project should be open in March 2013.
Dolcezza
will share the building with Red Apron
Butchery (also opening a retail shop at the Mosaic)
which is planning a “to-be-named” USDA-certified commissary
there. A rep for the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, which owns Red
Apron, says there are no plans to open it to the public. Red Apron is
planning a public space inside the market—the contract is not yet
finalized, but the retail stall should be open later this fall.
