New management to take over Galley Bakery Square food hall

New management is taking over Galley Bakery Square, the popular food hall concept meant to be an incubator for chefs starting up in the restaurant industry.

The changes at the East End destination came as a surprise to some and brought frustration.

Ashley McCoy’s restaurant Revival — one of four eateries in the space — had been just open about three weeks before she said she was told her new concept would have to leave Bakery Square.

Walnut Capital, which owns the building, terminated the lease to make way for the new management, Pittsburgh-based Shaka Restaurant Group, and a new name, City Kitchen at Bakery Square.

Galley Bakery Square currently houses four kitchen concepts. Elevate serves American comfort food. Somi specializes in Asian cuisine. Envie serves Midwestern and Cajun food. Revival does its take on French dishes like crepes as well as burgers and chicken sandwiches.

McCoy said Revival and Envie were both given 60 days to vacate. Somi and Elevate, both owned by Shaka Restaurant Group, will continue to operate in the space.

Both Walnut Capital and Galley Group, which operates the Bakery Square location, said McCoy has been offered a management position at Federal Galley, a sister location on the North Side. She plans to take the job. However, she said she was not offered a place for her kitchen.

“It’s a whirlwind,” McCoy said. “I have to look at my 10-year-old and she doesn’t know why Mommy doesn’t have a restaurant.”

McCoy said she is upset that she signed a contract for a new restaurant concept only to have it swept away after a few weeks. She had worked for another restaurant at Galley called Bubba’s when she was asked to pitch the concept for Revival.

“Why would you have me sign a contract if you’re already working on this on the back end?” she said. “My staff didn’t want to up and find another job.

“I’ve been in the restaurants for 27 years. Things like taking care of people at the table, that’s my forte. I came to work every day, 80 hours a week.

Galley Group, which is owned by New York-based Feenix Venture Partners, also operates in Newport, Kentucky and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Feenix Venture Partners also operates the point-of-sale system used by the Galley businesses, taking a percentage of sales. Galley opened at Bakery Square in May 2021 after Walnut Capital invested $20 million in the food hall space and adjacent public square which often features live performances.

Chad Ellingboe, CEO of Galley Group said the company is dedicated to operating Federal Galley on the North Side and “continuing to provide the same level of service and atmosphere that our loyal guests have enjoyed for years.”

“Galley’s mission is to incubate local chefs/concepts who are passionate about their craft,” he said. “Shaka has been with Galley since 2017 and has been a great success story on realizing the Galley mission.

“We are sad to be leaving Bakery Square, but thankful to the owners for allowing us to contribute to a quality food and entertainment hub for the local and surrounding community,” Ellingboe said. “Shaka is a sound choice and proven operator for the new food hall business model at City Kitchen.”

Hoa “Summer” Le, Shaka’s CEO, said the company is excited to take over management.

“We have bold plans to bring customers more fresh, local and innovative culinary options, while streamlining operations to make ordering easier, wait times shorter, and the overall experience more seamless and inviting,” Le said in a statement.

Walnut Capital said the core concept of the rotating kitchen model will continue at Bakery Square. However, City Kitchen plans to introduce an incentivized employee development program.

The plan will emphasize advancing frontline food workers’ careers, with employees working with mentors “to address social and economic barriers, provide cross-training opportunities and create personalized career development plans,” they said. Chefs will also have the option to pitch new concepts for review, which could be showcased by City Kitchen.

“The real challenge with the restaurant industry is in building a dedicated and well trained workforce,” said Le. “What we will have at City Kitchen is a culinary training and advancement program so that a dishwasher could spin off a career as a line chef or restaurant manager — and possibly a restauranteur.”

Somi and Elevate will continue operations and City Kitchen will add two new restaurant concepts, including Hawaiian fusion, and an elevated burger concept. They will dedicate one kitchen to rotate on a ‘pop-up’ schedule, the first of which includes Peruvian fusion. A new bar program will be rolled out to provide signature drinks.

The full transition is expected to conclude this fall.