6241 Delmar
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After making plans to build five apartment buildings off of Delmar Boulevard with housing for students, Washington University realized there was a serious grocery-store deficit within walking distance. Enter the Prapaisilp family, owners of Global Foods Market, as well as restaurants such as the King & I and Oishi Sushi. With the help of Tao + Lee Associates, United Provisions was born. Architect Peter Tao recalls what Shayn Prapaisilp, who’d recently graduated from college, told his parents: “Urban markets are changing, and this place needs to look interesting—we have to focus on design.”
The color palette is white, gray, and black, with splashes of red. “The aesthetics were left to us, and we wanted it to be fresh, light, and airy,” Tao says. “Contemporary—something you wouldn’t have seen in a grocery store.”
And within United Provisions’ 15,000-square-foot space, Ben Poremba of Salume Beddu, Olio, and Elaia opened The Dining District, selling prepared food. It has a quick-serve counter, a sushi bar, a raw bar, a deli, and sit-down dining at night. “The big idea was not just about a store that prepared food, because every store prepares food,” Tao says. “This was chef-based prepared food.”
