Jose Garces Joining Marc Vetri at the Moorestown Mall

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) announced during an earnings call that the Moorestown Mall is getting another well known Philadelphia chef. Jose Garces will bring his third location of Distrito to the mall. Garces is joining Marc Vetri who is opening Osteria at the mall later this year. In addition to Osteria and Distrito, PREIT has landed Firebirds Wood Fired Grill as it seeks to add more draws to the South Jersey mall than just shopping. The Distrito announcement brings the number of spoken for liquor licenses to three. Moorestown, which had been a dry town, awarded PREIT four liquor licenses at the mall.

More on Vetri’s Osteria project at the Moorestown Mall

Construction is now underway at the Moorestown Mall’s Osteria. And Vetri has announced that Michael Deganis will be the chef at the New Jersey Osteria. Deganis has until now been in the kitchen at Vetri’s Italian gastropub, Alla Spina. The move has had ripple effects as Pat Szoke, who was the executive chef at  the Industry is coming back to the Vetri fold to take over Alla Spina.

If all goes well, Osteria will open at the Moorestown Mall before the Holiday shopping season.