The Green Cities Company, Nuveen Real Estate and  Meredith Management Announce Garrett Harker as Hospitality Partner

The Green Cities Company, Nuveen Real Estate, and Meredith Management today announced a partnership with renowned hospitality professional Garrett Harker, marking his return to the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood. Harker will develop four food and beverage concepts set to open by early 2023 at Bower, the neighborhood’s newest luxury residential destination.

Harker transformed Kenmore Square into a national dining and drinking destination when he opened Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks in 2005. In 2010, he masterminded an innovative partnership with Duxbury’s Island Creek Oysters that resulted in Island Creek Oyster Bar and, in 2011, he opened the award-winning craft cocktail bar The Hawthorne, with longtime collaborator, Jackson Cannon. Harker plans to open four food and beverage concepts in roughly 20,000 sq ft of first-class retail space at Bower, a mixed-use luxury residential complex that is phase one of the Fenway Center development, located on Beacon Street between Kenmore Square and Audubon Circle. Harker’s vision will activate the surrounding plaza of Bower with three-season outdoor seating.

“From B&G Oysters to Eastern Standard to Row 34, I’ve loved harnessing the transformative power of hospitality to activate neighborhoods,” said Garrett Harker. “While there have been dark clouds in our industry the past two years, I’m as excited as ever to roll up my sleeves and dig in. I’m grateful to the team at Bower for giving me the opportunity to once again be a part of creating an entirely new neighborhood just a short five-minute walk from my home of 15 years.”

The food and beverage concepts, to be announced in 2022, will all be designed by NYC’s Parts and Labor Design, known for award-winning hospitality design for brands around the world; a sampling of their restaurant projects include Maialino Mare, Benno, and The Grey. Internationally recognized mixologist and Eastern Standard opening Bar Manager, Jackson Cannon, will oversee the beverage program and Chef Nemo Bolin, who worked with Harker at No. 9 Park before going on to open his own celebrated restaurant, Cook & Brown Public House in Providence, RI, will oversee the culinary direction across all four concepts.

Boston Urban founder Jonathan Dutch oversaw the retail place-making strategy for Bower, bringing Harker into the conversation with Bower partners and Green Cities Company principal, Kelly Saito.

“We can’t wait to bring Garrett back home to the Kenmore Square/Fenway neighborhood and Greater Boston,” said John Rosenthal, President of Meredith Management and visionary/co-developer for Bower and Fenway Center. “I’m personally over the moon excited that Garrett is bringing his genuine warmth and hospitality, delicious food, and extraordinary placemaking success to Bower and Fenway Center. Garrett has been sorely missed by our neighbors and, frankly, Boston’s entire restaurant scene. He is the perfect hospitality partner for this remarkable new destination.”

For four consecutive years (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), the James Beard Foundation took notice of Garrett’s dedication to each of his endeavors and recognized him as a semifinalist for the esteemed Outstanding Restaurateur Award. Locally, Garrett was recognized by the Massachusetts Restaurant Association as Restaurateur of the Year 2016. Currently, he operates Branch Line in Watertown, MA. In 2019 he co-founded Eastern Standard Provisions, an artisan pretzel and premium snack brand sold around the country.

View The Green Cities Company >>