FOOD & BEVERAGE CLOSE-UP
L’Avion will round out the food hall with a more sophisticated
option with full table and bar service. As with all my restaurants,
the majority of offerings will be farm-to-table.”
This belief in fresh ingredients and local sourcing moved
Gill to write the Pickled, Fried and Fresh: Bert Gill’s Southern
Flavors cookbook and lead community efforts in Alachua
school district cafeterias, setting up healthy menus as part
of the Let’s Move organization. Besides going on overdrive
to get the food hall off the ground, Gill is putting the finishing
touches to his second book.
Chef Bert
Gill, the
tastemaker
behind
Florida's
Stengel Food
Hall.
DID YOU KNOW?
The design of Stengel Food Hall is a nod to Gainesville’s
aviation history. It will have a Pitt’s Special airplane
suspended from the ceiling, as well as other aeronautical
elements from the 1940s and '50s. According to Butler
Enterprises, Stengel Field served as Gainesville's first
school of aviation, founded by local aviation pioneer,
Carl Stengel. There, early aeronautical designer
Curtis Pitts built a lightweight, agile Pitts Special,
brought to fame by Betty Skelton, the most famous
female aerobatic flying champion of her time, with her
THE DETAILS
Stengel Food Hall size: 13,000 sq. ft.
Number of vendors: between 11 and 15
Mix: new food concepts, a craft beer tap room,
and kiosks selling fresh flowers and local produce
plane "Lil' Stinker" still on display in the Smithsonian
Institution's National Air and Space Museum.
"Stengel Field Food Hall will be an exemplary
combination of the old and the new, with our design
reflecting Gainesville's storied past, while Chef Gill brings
our residents and guests the best of contemporary
cuisine," said Deborah Butler, whose father Clark Butler
acquired the airfield in the 1970s.
"This is an exciting time for Gainesville and North
Central Florida."
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