Eurest announced the development of Forum 55, an inspired morning, lunch and midday food hall and marketplace. Located in the heart of the Loop district within walking distance to Millennium Park, Forum 55 will operate Monday through Friday on the concourse level of 55 E. Monroe Street. It is slated to open in October.
Under the direction of 2017 Illinois Restaurant Association Chairman and Eurest Division President Jim Kallas, Forum 55 aims to provide the city with an original take on the food hall experience. “We want to celebrate Chicago food at its best,” says Kallas. “A food hall is a very special opportunity to showcase farmers, entrepreneurs and chefs at the same time with convenience, affordability and excitement.”
Forum 55 will offer convenient “order and pay” counter service from 10 restaurant concepts—a marketplace—a business incubator for young, female and minority owned businesses—as well as one of the city’s largest salad bars to feature produce handpicked from farmers in nearby Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.
A very special feature will be The Apron Exchange, a “food service incubator” designed especially to provide a platform for female and minority-owned businesses that want to introduce a new product or get an idea off the ground. The Community Garden will support area farmers as one the city’s largest salad bars to feature produce handpicked from local farmers in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, as the seasons dictate, of course. Forum 55 will also feature original programming, such as chef’s tables, purveyor meet and greets and special tastings, to position the space further as a gathering place for the larger Jeweler’s Row neighborhood daytime crowd.
In the coming weeks, Forum 55 will announce the participation of several much-loved independent restaurant operators and food providers.
