Anthony Bourdain's Posthumous Dream Food Hall Is Closing Its Doors After Just 5 Years

A New York City-based food hall dreamed up by the late Anthony Bourdain will shutter its doors after just four years in business. Urban Hawker, an indoor Singaporean street food center located in Midtown, opened in 2022 based on a concept the legendary chef came up with in 2013. The idea? Transforming an empty pier building on the Hudson into a giant, Asian-style night market.

Before his death, Bourdain had originally planned to create a collective featuring dishes from butchers, bakers, fishmongers, and mom-and-pop street food vendors from all over the globe. Unfortunately, what was to be known as the "Bourdain Market" never made it to fruition, but his collaborator, KF Seetoh, managed to get a small piece of the idea over the line. The Urban Hawker food hall opened in a much smaller space on West 50th Street in September 2022, bringing 17 new Asian vendors to the Big Apple.

Modeled off of Singapore's buzzy hawker centers, Urban Hawker was a hit with critics. However, Seetoh announced earlier this week on Facebook that operations would cease on July 17, 2026. In the post, he revealed that he was informed one year ago that the building where the hall is located would be sold for redevelopment. "It has been a great four year run for us," he wrote. "We are truly grateful for your support all this while. It was such a pleasure for me to help curate and create Urban Hawker."

A prominent food journalist and entrepreneur, KF Seetoh is considered one of Singapore's top street food experts. He has been recognized as a national food ambassador by the country's government and works fervently to champion hawker culture abroad. He worked closely with Bourdain over the years, calling him a "friend" and "fellow lover of life and people" in a tribute written on his Makansutra website. When Bourdain came up with his idea for his mega-market, Seetoh was one of the first people he called.

Seetoh was determined to bring some version of the market to life, eventually partnering with a food hall operator called Urbanspace to open Urban Hawker. The scaled-down version was much smaller than what Bourdain envisioned, but Bourdain famously loved Singapore — and it didn't hurt that 11 of the 17 vendors were flown directly from there to serve authentic, handmade dishes like chicken rice and prawn noodles to the people of New York. Some of the stalls also featured other cuisines like Chinese, Japanese, and Indian, and, of course, Asian-style Western favorites. The biryanis at Mamak's Corner proved especially popular, as did the Hainanese chicken rice at Hainan Jones.

In his Facebook post, Seetoh noted that the team was looking at other venues for some of the hawkers, and asked locals to keep him in the loop if they hear of anything. "It may be curtains down at Urban Hawker, but it ain't the end for Singapore makan culture there," he added. "Another door will always be open."