Despite a closing time of 4 p.m., the scents of freshly brewed coffee and sweet pastries wafted through Salt City Coffee at 6 on Monday evening as more than 30 community members and local food vendors settled into armchairs. At the front of the room, My Lucky Tummy founder Adam Sudmann took a sip of his iced coffee before turning ahead and facing the crowd before him.

“A lot of people don’t start with a lot of fortune,” he said, “but start with a lot of talent and drive and a compelling concept.”

In the fall of 2020, Sudmann will tackle his new role as market manager at Salt City Market, an upcoming regional market set to open at the intersection of South Salina Street and Onondaga Street, across from the Marriott Syracuse Downtown. The emerging community space is designed to unite people of varying cultural backgrounds, talents and business expertise under one common mission: breaking bread.

Through a shared meal, Sudmann said he aims to cultivate a feeling of inclusion for Syracuse residents — particularly people of color and immigrant communities — who, historically, haven’t always had a seat at the table.

“Let’s be honest: we don’t have a lot of spaces in Syracuse that everyone feels welcomed in,” Sudmann said. “This is a shared space. This is a learning experience for everybody.”

The concept for the impending market, Sudmann said, extends from inspiration he’s taken from both the Central New York Regional Market on the northside of Syracuse and community markets across the country, including the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis.

Through collaborative efforts with the Syracuse Urban Partnership and the Allyn Family Foundation, the five-level common space would include food merchants, office spaces for nonprofits and mixed income housing, among others.

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The base level of the market, designed for a 24,000 sq. ft. space, will feature a grocery store, cafe and bar, children’s play spaces, a community kitchen along with about 10 individual food stalls available for rent on one to two-year leases. Most stalls will be approximately 300 sq. ft., with plans for a couple of 150 sq. ft. smaller ones as well.

“We’re hoping to keep this a really active place that welcomes people in for a variety of reasons,” Sudmann said. He added that his vision for an indoor market with outdoor accessibility for the warmer seasons will help keep the space fresh despite Syracuse’s inclement winter weather.

“We want somewhere to get out and stretch your legs in the wintertime,” he added.

Kira Crawford, the director of Up Start at CenterState CEO, a business development center in downtown Syracuse, will join Sudmann to help match food merchants with several financial advisors, assisting them with grants and loans for their prospective businesses.

As discussed by Sudmann, Crawford stressed that this is a learning experience. She wants to accommodate all merchants, regardless of their current financial status or experience.

“In some cases, we don’t tell you exactly who to work with, but we can make recommendations based on what we know and people’s individual situations,” Crawford said. “We want to make sure that regardless of where people have been in their past life, they have the ability to access the money to make money.”

With excavations on the site set to begin in six to eight weeks, Sudmann is also gearing up for vendor applicants and the subsequent interview process, which includes attending an information session, four basic food classes, recipe development and participating in two upcoming food pop-up events.

Beyond the logistics of the application process and gaining familiarity with business programs like QuickBooks, he said the heart of his concept is its most essential: you need to have great food paired with immense passion for the business to be most successful.

For Sudmann, the vision is simple.

“A cultural crossroads,” he said. “A place to rub shoulders with all of your neighbors.”

Published on March 26, 2019 at 10:23 pm

Contact Kelsey: [email protected] | @writtenbykelsey