High Street Place Will Have a Newburyport Brewing Taproom, Quirky Doughnuts, and More

High Street Place will feature hot chefs when it opens in 2020. / Rendering by Gensler

Boston’s year of the food hall is extending into 2020, but when the cool court High Street Place finally lands downtown, there will be plenty of reasons to visit. Along with previously announced vendors like star chef Tiffani Faison and Best of Boston-winning Wheelhouse burgers, among others, High Street Place just announced six more vendors, including Newburyport Brewing Company, Gracenote Coffee, and Bad Doughnut.

All told, we now know 17 of the planned 20 High Street Place vendors. Today’s update adds these to mix:

• Bad Doughnut: The first brick-and-mortar for a Boston-based farmers’ market business by Harvard graduate and pastry chef Tess Wood. Bad Doughnut deals in fluffy, brioche-style doughnuts in whimsical flavor combinations, like Chips and Giggles (vanilla-glazed, topped with potato chips and a chocolate-hazelnut drizzle), Zesty Shades of Grey (earl grey tea-glazed with sugared lemon zest and rosemary), and the Olivia Pope, a nod to the Scandal character’s dinner of choice: Red wine-glazed, sprinkled with popcorn.
• Gorgeous Gelato: A second location for husband-and-wife duo Donato Giovine and Mariagrazia Zanardi’s gelateria, which first arrived in Portland, Maine—by way of Milan—back in 2010.
• Gracenote Coffee: The second café location for exceptional Central Mass. coffee-roasting company, Gracenote. Like its Best of Boston-worthy café in the Leather District, the High Street Place site will have espresso drinks, seasonal specialties and teas. The food hall location will also add new coffee cocktails and wines.
• Hum’Oveh: A new, Middle Eastern concept from a manager of the South End’s Anoush-ella. The menu centers on crispy flatbreads stuffed with the likes of spiced beef, marinated chicken, or feta and spinach; plus shish kebabs, mezze-style dips, and more.
• Mike & Patty’s: An expansion for the Bay Village breakfast sandwich specialists. Signature sammies like the fried egg-anchored Fancy will make the menu, along with “some surprises.”
• Newburyport Brewing: A second taproom for the North Shore brewery known for beers like Plum Island Belgian White, Green Head IPA, and Newburyport Pale Ale. Expect those brews and more, including a dedicated gluten-free line among 12 taps, cofounder Chris Webb tells Boston. “What’s exciting about our High Street Place taproom is we can showcase our core beers and our 1635 Series of limited release beers that you can only get in the taproom,” Webb says. “We will also be collaborating with other local breweries to create unique beers for High Street Place. It will be like an experimental kitchen for delicious local beer.”

High Street Place is headed for a large, underused atrium connecting Financial District office towers at 160 Federal and 100 High Street. It will have 300 seats inside, including communal tables, bar rails, and leather banquettes, as well as an 84-seat outdoor patio.

Along with additional food and drink offerings, today’s announcements reveals more about the place itself: The food hall will have a gigantic video screen to enhance planned programming like a speaker series, viewing events, live music, and workshops. The 28-by-11-foot display “exceeds high definition resolution,” per today’s announcement, and will be specifically calibrated to adjust for sunlit viewing, evening screenings, or whatever the moment calls for. (That includes up to four different games at once, sports fans.)

The video wall at High Street Place. / Brian Samuels Photography

Boston architecture firm Gensler and the Philadelphia-based Groundswell Design Group are leading the redesign of the 20th century landmark. They are adding art deco-inspired details such as brushed brass sconces, as well as white subway tiling and custom marble work. The space will be anchored by a 26-by-91-foot green wall, comprised of evergreen boxwood, preserved reindeer moss, and twinkling lights. High Street Place is a joint venture by Boston real estate investment firms Rockpoint Group and Rockhill Management, and D.C.-based retail developer CANAdev.

“Our goal is to embrace the very best of Boston cuisine and culture in such a way that puts exciting amenities and exceptional hospitality at the center of the experience,” CANAdev principal Michal Morris said in a press release.

High Street Place has claimed its place on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and is eyeing an early 2020 opening. Stay tuned for the final vendors and more opening details.

Coming early 2020 to 100 High St., Boston, highstreetplace.com.