David Bouley To Speak; Bell Market Opens At Bell Works

HOLMDEL, NJ — There continues to be a lot of exciting news out of Bell Works this September, including the announcement last week that they now have an operator to run the on-site hotel, and news today that highly-regarded restaurateur Chef David Bouley will be speaking at a conference at Bell Works later this fall. (You'll recall Anthony Scaramucci spoke at a business expo at Bell Works this past June.)

That's not to mention the unveiling of Bell Market, the food hall at Bell Works, which has quietly been opening in stages to some buzz-worthy dining establishments.

Bouley, of his eponymous restaurant Bouley in Tribeca, will speak at the WEforum health and wellness conference taking place at Bell Works on November 14. The conference is called "Eat for Life: How the Power of Food Can Heal Your Body," and it's being held in partnership with Monmouth Medical Center/RWJBarnabas Health. Other keynote speakers will include Dr. Susan Blum and Joel Salatin, "The Lunatic Farmer of Polyface Farms."

Also, Bell Market, the 6,000-square-foot food hall featuring five different eateries, has had a staggered opening over the past few months. It first started with the opening of Bubz Deli and Broadfork Grains & Greens, followed by Jozu (the ramen & sushi spot) for lunch, and then Honeybell bakery quietly opened in August.

The final piece of the puzzle is the full unveiling of Corbo & Sons, specializing in wood-oven pizzas and antipasti (and has a full bar). Right now it's only open on Wednesdays from 2-8 p.m., but after Sept. 25 it will open full time.

Bell Market is by no means designed only for people lucky enough to work in the building. Anyone in the Holmdel-Middletown-Colts Neck area should stop by for lunch.

Why? The pastry chef Jeff Sytsma (formerly the executive chef at Bien Cuit in NYC) bakes bread, bagels, pastries and cakes on premise every day; the tonkotsu broth that chef Chad Spencer at Jozu uses for the ramen simmers for 48 hours; all of the fish for their sushi and hand rolls is sourced from Local 130 in Asbury Park and the sommelier, Chantelle Corbo, will debut a wine club later this fall.

There are other restaurants scheduled to open at Bell Works that will be separate from the food hall.

The Nov. 14 wellness conference will feature a health and wellness vendor fair, break-out lectures and a series of interactive roundtable sessions with renowned health and wellness experts. For sponsorship and vendor opportunities, contact Kelly Boyer at Kelly.Boyer@rwjbh.org or 732-923-6885.

A privately-owned company called Destination Hotels will operate the Bell Works hotel, which has not yet been named. Destination Hotels, headquartered in Colorado, operates small-scale resorts, spas and inns in places such as Vail, Carmel Valley, California, Sedona and a resort and spa in Lake Tahoe.

Bell Works appears to be their first venture in the great Garden State.

The hotel will also include a conference center and ballroom. Those are both scheduled to open later this year, in the fall of 2018. The hotel will open in 2020. The hotel will be housed on the top floor of Bell Works (the sixth floor), and will feature 186 oversized guest rooms, including entertaining suites, a signature restaurant, a 13,000-square-foot rooftop bar, a luxury spa and game room. There were originally plans to put an infinity pool on the roof of Bell Works, but it is currently unknown if that is still included.

All photo credit goes to Lapeg Photo.