The S&W Market, a food hall and event space, will open Wednesday, June 16, in the iconic S&W Cafeteria building in the heart of downtown Asheville.
Anchoring the space will be Highland Brewing Company — Asheville’s original craft brewery — which will open its second taproom at S&W, with both first floor and mezzanine-level bars.
Ellington Realty Group has partnered with Beard Award nominee Meherwan Irani to reopen the S&W. Irani has designed five concepts from popular local chefs and restaurateurs, including Buxton Chicken Palace, which he’s opening alongside his Buxton Hall BBQ partner, chef and pitmaster Elliott Moss.
Other tenants include Bun Intended (Thai street food), Farm Dogs (grass-fed hot dogs, handcrafted sausages, and locally-made pretzels), Peace Love Tacos (a variety of tacos and a-la-carte favorites), The Hop Ice Cream S&W (locally-made ice cream), and The Times Bar, a cocktail bar adjacent to the food hall.
“With its rich history so steeped in place — a former gathering place of the city lovingly restored to be that once again — the S&W Building is a space that's meant to be shared," Irani said.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the S&W Building is widely recognized as a prime example of art-deco architecture from the 1920s. The structure was built by architect Douglas Ellington, who won the 1911 Paris Prize from the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he was the first American to win the Prix de Rougevin, the top honor for decorative competitions at the École.
Ellington also designed the Asheville City Building, Asheville’s First Baptist Church, and the main building at Asheville High School.
The original S&W Cafeteria opened in 1929, serving quick, locally-sourced food in a pristine, upscale environment and providing a lively space for the community to gather.
In 2017, the building was purchased by the architect’s two nephews, Douglas and Kenneth Ellington of Ellington Realty Group.