James Beard Award-winning Mökbar owner and chef Esther Choi will open her fourth restaurant at the Junction at Gateway One in Newark, New Jersey. It will occupy 950 square feet in the Market Hall area of Gateway One, announced developer Onyx Equities.
“I’m very excited to get back to my New Jersey roots. What better place to open Mökbar, my flagship restaurant than Newark?” Choi said. “I’m ready to get to work and share my Korean culture and cuisine with the downtown residence and workers.”
Mökbar joins Serafina, Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, Fresh & Co, Greek from Greece Bakery & Café, Farinella, 375˚ Chicken & Fries, Chip City Cookies and The Brookdale at the 2.3 million square-foot, four-building Gateway Center. The complex draws over 75,000 weekly visitors from the New York Metro area through its skybridges to Newark Penn Station, One Riverfront Center, and Panasonic’s Corporate Headquarters.
Its second-floor interconnected concourses, now known as The Junction, is near the completion of a multimillion-dollar renovation to attract retail, fitness, entertainment and dining opportunities as well as improve the pedestrian and tenant experience within the complex. Onyx’s investment in Newark also includes opening the Gateway Center’s ground floor via a new pedestrian grand entrance and street-facing retail for the first time in the building’s 50-plus-year history.
“Newark’s central downtown area has always had the capability to be a center of commerce. It has the infrastructure and locational attributes needed to become a world-class destination, and a neighborhood that local residents cherish and identify with. It just needed for us to turn Gateway inside-out,” said Jonathan Schultz, co-founder and managing principal for Onyx Equities. “Our plans to turn the concourse level from a convenient commuter pass-through into a world-class destination is coming to fruition. It’s very exciting to sign tenants in The Junction who share our vision and belief in Newark.”
