Local Roasters and Drink craft Shine at plata coffee

DAILY COFFEE NEWS - Written by: Howard Bryman | Oct. 14, 2020

At the progressive ends of coffee and retail design in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Plata Coffee upgraded from a small space downtown to an airier spot inside the new Sawmill Market food hall.

Plata Co-Founder and Co-Owner Rose Kerkmans told Daily Coffee News that the original shop that opened in 2018 was shut down late last year in order to focus on the buildout and transition to newer digs in the culinary hotspot. The reimagined Plata opened along with rest of Sawmill Market on March 10, only to be shut down again eight days later due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Roughly four months later, the business finally opened again, offering a comfortable space and a focal part for the market, which also features a cocktail bar and taproom, and a broad range of approachable cuisine.

“Plata is a very warm and grounded space,” Kerkmans told DCN. “We used dark colors and concrete countertops, as well as walnut finishes, including the bar top from our old location. We wanted a space that felt comfortable.”

The walnut echoes rows of wooden rafters overhead, while sleek black tiles on the front of the wrap-around counter match with the black wall behind the baristas, who work over a counter-sunk Modbar espresso station.

In keeping with the spirit of the food hall, the bar features coffees coming from numerous New Mexico roasting companies.

“Because Sawmill Market is a tourist destination, we like to offer local roasts in order to bring more of a holistic New Mexican experience to our customers,” Kerkmans said of a multiroaster program, which has featured beans from Albuquerque’s Cutbow Coffeeand Red Rock Coffee, as well as house offerings from Santa Fe-based Iconik Coffee.

New Mexico’s first ‘food hall’ coming to Albuquerque

KRQE NEWS 13 - Written by: Courtney Allen | July 15, 2019

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – They have been going up in cities around the country. Now, New Mexico is about to get its first food hall. 

An old lumber warehouse in the Sawmill District will be home to two dozen businesses. The retail space will be full of food, beverage and retail tenants once it opens in February. Business owners said they look forward to the market bringing people inconsistently year after year.

“This will have a little bit more tourists as well as locals, and we are happy to have both of those,” Steve Prickett, owner of Eldora Chocolate, said. 

Pricket is a new tenant of the market. The space is 34,000 square feet, which includes 11,000 square feet outside the building. It will be big enough to house 24 tenants. 

“We are really excited that the Sawmill District is really looking at themselves from a national standard and saying, ‘How can we create a nice environment?'” Prickett said.

Leasing manager Cindy Campos shared her vision for the project. “We want to make it a wonderful family-friendly experience for everybody,” Campos said. 

Other artisan markets like this are drawing crowds all over the country, like The Grove in Los Angeles. “We have seen a lot of food halls around the United States, and we wanted to bring the first one here because we want New Mexico to experience that community gathering,” Campos said. 

Prickett said he is happy to be part of the movement in the up-and-coming Sawmill District between Old Town and I-40. 

Campos said they are still looking for a few more tenants to complete the makeup of the market. You can call Campos at 720-329-1113 or visit SawmillMarket.com to apply.

Sawmill Market will be the state's first food hall

KOAT 7 NEWS - Written by: Shellye Leggett | July 16, 2019

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Sawmill District, an area that's continuing to grow, is getting a new addition. A former lumber warehouse in the district, will soon be home to 24 different local businesses.

"The Sawmill Market will be the heart of the district," said Sawmill Market leasing agent, Cindy Campos.

The space is 34,000 square-feet and will be New Mexico's first food hall. The businesses will offer coffee, baked goods, burgers and waffles, among other items. None of the 24 businesses will sell the same thing.

"We want to create that community where people come and gather and experience different retails and different types of foods," Campos said.

Sawmill Market sits across the street from Hotel Chaco, a high-volume area that Sawmill Market tenants said will be great for business.

"We'll have a much larger access to a customer base, but also, it will just be great for our mission and for our vision to kind of tap into the tourist industry here would be really nice," said Plata Coffee co-founder Rose Kerkmans.

Plata Coffee is currently at 8th Street and Silver Avenue. It's co-owners said they're ready to move into the Sawmill Market.

"It's exciting, for sure. It's a different kind of experience, not only currently running something, but also trying to set up something else," Kerkmans said.

Doors open in February 2020.

Sawmill Market rises in ABQ

Albuquerque Journal - Written by: Stephen Hamway | July 15, 2019

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In the early 20th century, Albuquerque’s vibrant timber industry was quartered in a neighborhood just north of Old Town, where lumber products were sourced and sold across the West.

Today, one of the largest remaining buildings from the district, a blue-and-white building on Bellamah that once housed Frank Paxton Lumber Co.’s Albuquerque operations, is surrounded by scaffolding, as it undergoes a massive transformation into Sawmill Market.

The market, expected to be New Mexico’s first food hall when it opens, announced its first four tenants. They are – Dr. Field Goods Kitchen, Plata Coffee, Eldora Chocolate, and a new concept titled Mercantile Cafe & Wine Bar – that eventually will be joined by around 20 other food and beverage producers at the new 34,000-square-foot market.

The $24 million project is a massive undertaking, but developer Jim Long told the Journal it has the potential to become not only the center of a planned mixed-use district north of Old Town, but also a community hub for the entire city.

Artisan, unique, non-chain

“It’s artisan, it’s unique, it’s non-chain stores,” Prickett said of Sawmill Market.

Where Eldora Chocolate will need to contract its offerings to fit in the market, Plata Coffee is planning to expand. The coffee counter was founded by Rose Kerkmans and Aaron Ketner last fall. Kerkmans said the coffee shop currently occupies just 150 square feet in the ground floor of a low-income housing development that Ketner, an intern architect, designed. She said the market provides an opportunity to expand while still maintaining its focus on local coffee.

“Our mission was to, as much as possible, only sell and collaborate with New Mexican brands,” Kerkmans said.

Long said he expects Sawmill Market to be open by next February. Currently, builders are reconfiguring the vast interior space so tenants will be able to use it. While the development is the first of its kind in Albuquerque, he said he thinks Duke City is ready for an indoor market to call its own.

“Population-wise, I think we’re probably at the size now that we’ll see more variety,” Long said.