The Chef Behind Irving Street Kitchen Is Opening an Italian Marketplace and Food Hall

Chef Sarah Schafer and Anna Caporael of the spacious American restaurant Irving Street Kitchen are opening La Cooperativa, a sprawling, 5,000-square foot Italian food hall and marketplace in the Pearl District, with pasta and pizza counters, an intimate bar, and market vendors.

Portland Monthly first reported that La Cooperativa (tentatively named) is inspired by the Mercato Centrale in Florence, as well as Portland’s iconic food halls. The space will include a Roman pizzeria from Schafer and Sean Coyne of the former Pizza Maria, with long, thin pizzas sold by the pound. Schafer herself will oversee a pasta station with a variety of pastas and sauces, and Irving Street Kitchen bar manager Joel Schmeck will run an intimate bar with a fireplace, Italian-style drinks like negronis and amaro-spiked cocktails, and Italian and local wines, with diners being able to order food from around the hall and bring it to the bar.

Other parts of the marketplace will include a flower vendor, coffee and pastry stands, a gelato bike, and a small market shop, with the team still chatting with prospective vendors, local farmers, artisans, butchers, and the like. Folks that already have a single Portland location will have a chance for a second outlet at La Cooperativa.

The sprawling space will be at the base of the new Tanner Point building at 1250 NW 9th Avenue, and has an expected opening date of June.

• Irving Street Kitchen’s Sarah Schafer to Open an Ambitious Italian Food Hall in June [PoMo]
• Irving Street Kitchen [Official]
• All Previous Irving Street Kitchen Coverage [EPDX]