New Lineup of Signature Local Brands that will Create a Unique New York Sense of Place at JFK Airport T4

Image Courtesy of PANYNJ

Iconic New York Brands, Including Eataly, Dos Toros Taqueria, Boqueria, Bessou, Villa Russo Café, Brooklyn Tea & Market, Field Trip and Chopt, to Operate Alongside National Brands for an Attractive Mix of Concessions

HMS Host, a Global Leader in Travel Dining, Selected to Oversee Concessions Operations with 7 Locally-Owned Businesses Named as Joint-Venture Partners

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and JFKIAT, the operator of John F. Kennedy International Airport’s Terminal 4 (T4), today announced a new line up of food and beverage concessions that will include an attractive mix of local and national brands that will create a unique New York sense of place at the recently expanded terminal. Notable local brands that will enliven the passenger experience include Bessou, Dos Toros Taqueria, Boqueria, Eataly, the James Beard Foundation’s Good To Go by JBF™, and Villa Russo Café, a Queens-based family operated business. 

The selection of these iconic and premium brands was curated following a competitive process that awarded HMSHost, a global leader in travel dining, the contract to oversee their operations at Terminal 4. Additionally, HMSHost formed joint-venture partnerships with seven local and diverse airport concessions disadvantaged business enterprise (ACDBE)-certified businesses selected following an extensive community outreach led by HMSHost. As the operator of T4, JFKIAT’s objectives in these innovative partnerships was to foster a mentorship program in which local and diverse business owners would have the opportunity to learn how to operate an airport concession from a global travel retail operator, while offering passengers an attractive selection of local culinary experiences. 

New York Dining and Beverage Brands Coming to Terminal 4:

• Bessou, a Manhattan-based James Beard Foundation alumni offering unique Japanese comfort food; 
• Fieldtrip, a Harlem-based restaurant that connects global cuisines through rice; 
• Boqueria, a sophisticated tapas bar steeped in traditional Spanish flavors; 
• Eataly Restaurant & Bar with its gourmet marketplace that embodies classic Italian gastronomy; 
• Brooklyn Tea & Market, a Brooklyn-based tea shop that marries old-world appreciation for tea with next-generation global innovation;  
• Dos Toros Taqueria, an authentic Mexican cuisine concept; 
• Chopt, a popular salad destination that originated in Manhattan; 
• Villa Russo Café, a Queens-based second-generation family business that brings Italian-American tradition to its cuisine, and a graduate of the Port Authority’s Institute of Concessions. 
• HMSHost will also evolve its partnership with the James Beard Foundation (JBF) to bring the foundation’s Good To Go by JBF™ fast-casual concept, which will debut in Terminal 4 with a menu by the women behind New York’s popular Due Madri. 

Local, diverse, and disadvantaged businesses taking part in the concessions program hail from the New York City boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. Collectively, these businesses will have a 30 percent equity stake in a joint-venture with HMSHost. Together, these collaborations, initiated through community outreach programs, will fulfill the ACDBE participation goal.  

Local and ACDBE Businesses Selected as Joint-Venture Partners to HMSHost:

• Tamalito Inc. from Manhattan (ACDBE-certification pending) 
• Neat Rules Hospitality Group LLC from Brooklyn, N.Y. 
• Sugar Hill Creamery from Harlem, N.Y. (ACDBE-certification pending) 
• Kintaro Foods LLC from Manhattan, N.Y. 
• Kismet Cocktails Inc. from Queens, N.Y. 
• Corlis Stone-Littles LLC from Texas 
• Fresco’s Cantina from Queens, N.Y. 

Joint-venture partnerships with HMSHost will provide a unique opportunity for the redevelopment of T4 to benefit local and diverse business owners who will be directly involved in the management of the restaurants, learning about the complexities of airport operations and bolstering their chances of successfully competing for and operating their own airport concessions in the future. As part of this initiative, JFKIAT will ensure local business participation and input into the assortment of offerings, supply, and fit out of these new retail and food and beverage locations. 

Creating opportunities for local and diverse businesses to create airport concessions that will be appealing to travelers has been at the forefront of the Port Authority’s $19 billion redevelopment of JFK, which includes the $1.5 billion modernization and expansion of T4 by JFKIAT and Delta Air Lines. Working with the JFK Redevelopment Community Advisory Council, led by U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr., the Port Authority launched the Institute of Concessions in 2023 to prepare local businesses for the unique requirements of competing for and operating a business inside and airline terminal. To date, 45 businesses have completed the program, including the owners of Villa Russo Café, one of the new dining concessions that will be an equity partner with HMSHost at T4. 

JFKIAT is the operator of the largest terminal at JFK and has leveraged its innovative expertise in air terminal operations at T4 for more than 20 years. As a Queens-based business itself, JFKIAT has a long history of supporting the community around the airport, from facilitating local business owners’ participation in a street market program at T4, to providing resources to local non-profits and educational institutions through its 4GOOD program. Approximately 45 percent of JFKIAT’s project spend for its share of the transformation of T4 has gone to MWBE companies, totaling $34 million thus far. 

This curated collection of local experiences will also further strengthen T4’s well-established New York-centric identity. The terminal is also home to the T4 Arts & Culture program, established to support the local community and providing enriching experiences for travelers that epitomize New York City.  

Redeveloping JFK Airport in Lockstep with the Local Community 
In 2018, the JFK Redevelopment Community Advisory Council was formed. It is co-chaired by U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, and is composed of elected officials, community boards, business and nonprofit organizations, civic organizations, and clergy leaders from the targeted local communities of southeast Queens, southwest Queens, the Rockaways and western portions of Nassau County. 

Since its inception, the council has been working with the Port Authority to expand community outreach efforts and develop community-focused programs, ensuring that this ambitious project solicits ongoing feedback from local stakeholders and provides meaningful opportunities for local businesses, MWBEs, students and jobseekers. This includes programming to advance the Port Authority’s commitment to a 30 percent MWBE contracting goal in all categories of work, and a special focus on opportunities for local businesses across all aspects of the JFK redevelopment program, including terminal projects, which will be built by union labor under a full project-labor agreement. Other community development initiatives prioritized by the council focus on job opportunities and workforce development programs for residents, small business outreach and development, and educational programming for local students. 

Transforming JFK Into a World-Class Global Gateway   
In January 2017, the JFK Vision Plan was announced to transform JFK into the world-class airport that New Yorkers deserve. The plan provides a strategic framework for the Port Authority and its partners to completely redevelop, modify and expand existing facilities and infrastructure. The $9.5 billion development of a state-of-the-art New Terminal One that will anchor the airport’s south side broke ground in September 2022. A new $4.2 billion Terminal 6, which will connect seamlessly with Terminal 5 to create an anchor terminal on the airport’s north side, broke ground in February 2022 and celebrated a steel topping out ceremony in October 2024. The first local and diverse concession partners for Terminal 6 was announced in July 2024. The $1.5 billion expansion of Terminal 4, led by Delta Air Lines and JFK International Air Terminal (JFKIAT), is substantially complete. Additionally, the $400 million expansion of Terminal 8, led by American Airlines, which operates the terminal, was completed in November 2022, and its first contingent of local and diverse concession partners was announced in September 2024. 

All of the privately financed terminal projects combined with the Port Authority’s roadway, parking and infrastructure projects represent a $19 billion transformation of JFK and an extraordinary series of public-private partnerships. The Port Authority’s capital investment of $3.9 billion is leveraging private investment at a rate of nearly four to one when taking into account the full private investment of more than $15 billion that has been committed to the four projects comprising the full redevelopment of JFK.   

For more information on John F. Kennedy International Airport, visit JFKAirport.com.  

About JFKIAT

JFK International Air Terminal LLC (JFKIAT) is the operator of Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, one of the most active air terminals in the New York area, serving 22 international and domestic airlines with an annual passenger volume of more than 26 million travelers in 2023. In 2017, Terminal 4 became the first existing airport terminal in the U.S. to receive LEED Gold certification by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) for operations and maintenance, and in 2022 it became the first air terminal in the U.S. to receive platinum recognition for pre-existing air terminals. The terminal’s expansive retail lounge offers an unparalleled experience for travelers with a wide range of food and beverage and retail options, from chic to upscale and from convenience stores, to electronics, accessories, and gifts. Terminal 4 was the first air terminal in North America operated by a private management company. JFKIAT’s managing member is Schiphol USA Inc., a U.S. affiliate of Royal Schiphol Group.  

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a bi-state agency that builds, operates, and maintains many of the most important transportation and trade infrastructure assets in the country. For over a century, the agency’s network of major airports; critical bridges, tunnels and bus terminals; a commuter rail line; and the busiest seaport on the East Coast has been among the most vital in the country – transporting hundreds of millions of people and moving essential goods into and out of the region. The Port Authority also owns and manages the 16-acre World Trade Center campus, which today welcomes tens of thousands of office workers and millions of annual visitors. The agency’s historic $37 billion 10-year capital plan includes unprecedented transformation of the region’s three major airports – LaGuardia, Newark Liberty and JFK – as well as an array of other new and upgraded assets, including the $2 billion renovation of the 93-year-old George Washington Bridge. The Port Authority’s annual budget of $9.4 billion includes no tax revenue from either the states of New York or New Jersey or from the city of New York. The agency raises the necessary funds for the improvement, construction or acquisition of its facilities primarily on its own credit. For more information, visit panynj.gov or check out the Now Arriving blog.