Flour + Water Team Announces Plans for Central Kitchen, a Restaurant/Deli in SoEx Gallery Complex

Eli the Bearded/Flickr

The space adjacent to the gallery will also house what's being called a "culinary incubator."

​After the rumor surfaced earlier this year that Flour + Water was seeking ways to expand without simply knocking down the walls to add seats, it looks like owners David White and David Steele have found a new space, and a new concept. Central Kitchen is slated for the Southern Exposure Gallery complex at the corner of 20th Street and Florida. The 2,500-square-foot-space will house an eatery (The Dining Hall, with communal tables and two nightly seatings five times a week, plus brunch, mostly walk-ins) and a deli/market with the working name of Salumeria, and the promise of sandwiches. It'll house a catering operation, too, and what the owners are calling a place to serve as a "culinary incubator" for new ideas (a whiff of Bi-Rite/18 Reasons?). Designs call for the kitchen to be transparent, literally ― a visible presence in the very center of what sounds like an ambitious food space.

Expected opening date? Pretty much a full year from now, spring 2011. Today's press shout-out says the "flexible nature of Central Kitchen will allow chef Thomas McNaughton to explore culinary dimensions beyond the scope of Flour + Water." To us, that sounds like he might be toying with cuisines beyond the (mostly) Northern Italian offerings at F+W. Very cool.