New ‘virtual food hall’ brings cuisine from around the D.C. area to Tysons

(Updated at 3:30 p.m. on 7/24/2023) Tysons residents can now pick up a meal from D.C.-based eateries without needing to cross the Potomac River, thanks to a just-launched “virtual food hall” in Fairfax Square.

The Kitchen Collective has opened a pickup window in the office and retail center at 8045 Leesburg Pike, Suite L160, where it will facilitate takeout and delivery orders for a slate of partner restaurants and food concepts.

Co-founded by Reza Farahani, whose Persian restaurant Joon opened at Fairfax Square last month, the food hall is initially hosting Pizza Serata — which operates out of D.C.’s Crooked Run Brew Pub — and Yasmine, a Lebanese kebab shop in Union Market.

“Yasmine has quickly become D.C.’s favorite Kebab bar and Pizza Serata’s unique focaccia style pan pizza is a pizza lover’s favorite,” said Farahani, who owns both brands. “Both concepts have received a great deal of accolades and we think they’re the perfect partners for us to debut our virtual food hall.”

According to a press release, the food hall will soon add more offerings, including:

• Soul Rebel, a health food cafe originally founded in 2015 that serves salads, toast, juices and smoothies, and yogurt, grain and acai bowls
• El Oso, a Mexican street food concept
• San Tokki, a brand-new concept from the collective
• Lucky Danger, the popular American Chinese restaurant from chef Tim Ma with a takeout site in Arlington

The Kitchen Collective says it focuses on concepts “by well-known chefs, made with the freshest and tastiest ingredients.”

The idea for the “virtual” food hall came in response to a surge in demand for delivery and takeout that has remained consistent since the early days of the pandemic, according to Farahani.

The size of Joon’s kitchen and its location in Tysons, which is surrounded by housing, offices and retail stores, made it an ideal place to try out the idea, he said.

“In our large kitchen we can cross-utilize many of our resources ranging from labor and real estate to equipment and utilities to create a business model that requires lower start up and operating expenses, while maximizes sales by allowing multiple brands to generate sales,” Farahani said. “Sure chef-driven brand partners allow consumers to have food from multiple brands delivered to them for lunch or dinner.”

The food hall accepts takeout and delivery orders from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Orders can be placed through its Toast website or in person at the walk-up window by Joon.