Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1420847
T he first chapter of Post Houston's epic architectural story unveils this month, with the OMA NYC/ Jason Long-designed transformation of the 1960s modernist Barbara Jordan downtown post office on Franklin Street. (The global firm OMA was founded by Rem Koolhaas in Rotterdam in 1975.) The project is directed by Kirby Liu, son of Houston real estate developer Frank Liu, whose firm Lovett Commercial acquired the property in 2015. A Dartmouth grad who also was a Fulbright scholar, Kirby left Harvard Graduate School of Design and the beginning of an architecture career at Rex (an offshoot of OMA) to return to Houston and provide the vision for Post Houston. His ambitious concept interweaves Houston's food culture with grand ideas about architecture and art, with a side of music via a concert hall. (Read more on Post Houston in our December issue.) Carving out a 53,000-square-foot space within Post Houston's mammoth 550,000 square feet is Post Market, with 30 food kiosks and restaurant concepts within a magnificent food hall, offering tastes from nearly every corner of the globe. Opening date of Post Houston is Saturday, November 13, with most food concepts up and running. You'll want to stroll about this market-like setting and create a progressive dinner, lunch, or brunch with a bite of this and a helping of that. Vendors are organized from smallest to largest, with clusters of grab-and-go kiosks at the north and south entries and larger ones toward the center of the market hall. Seating is plentiful and scattered about, including upstairs on the Skylawn — one of the largest green roofs in the world — where farmers from Blackwood Land Education Institute, a 33-acre nonprofit teaching farm in Waller County, cultivate organic vegetables, fruits, and herbs for Post Houston's restaurants and bars. With an undertaking this forward- thinking, it's no surprise the powers that be lured some big names in the culinary world to create one-of-a-kind concepts. Making his Houston debut is Norwegian chef Christopher Haatuft, whose eatery Lysverket made him a sensation in Norway. Later this month, Haatuft launches Golfstrømmen Seafood Market, his first American restaurant and market designed to sell and serve sustainably and ethically caught seafood … Filipino-Brazilian chef Laila Bazahm, whose restaurant Hawker 45 was named one of Condé Nast's 30 best Barcelona restaurants, debuts Hawker Street Food Bar, her first U.S. concept. A riff on street-food hawkers in Asia, it blends the best of Southeast Asian and Latin American street cuisine … Sommelier Mark Bright, partner and wine director at San Francisco's Michelin-rated Saison restaurant, premieres the first brick-and-mortar locale of his Saison Cellar at Post Market. He sources POST HOUSTON'S CROSS-CULTURAL NEW FOOD HALL POST MARKET By Laurann Claridge Rendering of the new Post Market at Post Houston designed by OMA/NYC ROBERTA'S PIZZA, PHOTO ERIK KANTAR; ALL OTHER RESTAURANT PHOTOS COURTESY OF THAT TENANT. 102