New Orleans chef reopens old Central City market as new hub for healthy food. See inside.

Gary Netter is a chef with a mission. Now, he’s about to lift the lid on an ambitious new project in Central City that will bring back what was once a neighborhood market and change the prospects for healthy food in its surrounding communities.

The Wholistic Culinary Market has quietly been taking shape in a metal building at the corner of Jackson and Simon Bolivar avenues. The property has been idle for years, and with black tarps covering its surrounding fence passersby see little hint of what Netter has been developing within.

But this week the chef plans to have his Wholistic Culinary Market humming here with fresh produce, grab-and-go prepared food, hot dishes and live music.

“This is trying to answer the need for getting fresh, healthy food into the community, and it’s going to be fun and accessible for people,” Netter said.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony with city officials is scheduled for Wednesday (July 17), at 1:30 p.m. Netter plans to open to the public the next day (July 18). It will be open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. through the weekend, and expand to full hours of 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. next week.

What’s inside

When the gates open, visitors will find what looks like an old industrial pavilion filled with multiple stands. There’s a grocery area for fruit and vegetables and a stand for smoothies and coffee drinks.

Another stand is devoted to salads, including poke, and soups, including Vietnamese pho. Other stands will have rotisserie chicken, boiled and steamed seafood and Latin American dishes. Many of the dish are bowls, following an idea Netter dubs “superbowls,” utilizing nutritious foods.

Some of the stands are concepts from Netter, some are run by others. That includes Fresh Fruits Sensations, a pop-up hit at local festivals and that now has a location in the Riverwalk Outlet food court.

And the soup stand marks the return of a familiar local name: the Soup Garden, a pop-up born in the pandemic that had in a walk-up stand at 3511 Magazine St. Netter bought the Soup Garden last year and is bringing it back as part of the Wholistic Culinary Market.

‘Rustic and real’

Wholistic Culinary Market has a stage for live music and seating areas inside and out. It also embodies Netter’s vision for what has been missing for too long in the area.

“I want this to bring something to the community that it needs but just isn’t getting,” Netter said.

To that end, the market has no fried food and a strong emphasis on making healthy nutritious meals available in a setting that’s welcoming to all.

Accessibility defines the whole concept.

Central City once had a fresh food hub, originally called Jack & Jake’s, and later Dryades Public Market, which started out upscale and later shifted to become a more conventional grocery on O.C. Haley Boulevard. It closed for good in 2019.

Wholistic Culinary Market is drawn up very differently, and is also a clear departure from the modern food hall concept.

Metal walls hung with local art, screened windows behind fold-up metal shutters, whirling shop fans and high steel girders set the scene.

“I don’t want to be the shiny new penny. It’s an outdoor, accessible place for healthy food,” Netter said. “I want it to be rustic and real.”

History and background

The building has history in the neighborhood. Starting in 1980 it housed a market where different vendors set up tables selling everything from greens and peas and catfish to clothing.

It was operated by the same family who ran the Jumbo Peanut Co. brand, which had its roasting facility and a warehouse just next door to the market on Jackson Avenue.

Netter is also leasing that warehouse space. Right now, it’s used for storage, but he has a vision to turn it into a facility for local food producers to package retail goods, like jams and sauces.

Netter is a New Orleans native and graduate of the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (that’s his first trumpet mounted by the market’s stage). His culinary career includes cooking at big-name local restaurants like Commander’s Palace and Emeril’s before he set out to build his own brand, called Next to Eat. He has a commissary kitchen, a catering operation and works in food business development.

The name Next to Eat aligns with his guiding mission. It’s not so much about what you’ll eat next, Netter explained, but who you’re bringing to the table for new opportunities.

In 2018, Mayor LaToya Cantrell named Netter the official culinary ambassador for the city of New Orleans. He interprets the role not just as representing the city to others, but being an ambassador of inclusion within the city, representing new possibilities for New Orleans people.

Netter set up an earlier rendition of Wholistic Culinary Market in 2021 inside the Circle Food Store, as the historic 7th Ward grocery, once closed, staged a return with new owners, including celebrity entrepreneur Sidney Torres IV. It occupied the grocery’s former deli with a mix of healthy food options and a broader mix of not-manifestly-healthy options. This concept  didn’t last long though, which Netter today attributes to the disruptions of Hurricane Ida later that year.

But two years ago, Netter saw the potential of the Central City property and has been quietly working away on plans for the market ever since.

“I saw a spot where nothing was happening in a neighborhood that’s changing,” he said.

He also sees potential for the market to be a hub for collaborations with farmers and public health initiatives. Netter is a board member for Chefs Brigade, the grassroots group that produced millions of meals for the community during the pandemic, and he sees the market as a possible asset for disaster relief food efforts too.

Wholistic Culinary Market

2132 Simon Bolivar Blvd., scheduled to open July 18

Hours 11 a.m.-4 p.m. through July 21, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. beginning July 22