James Beard Award-winning Korean restaurant Mokbar will open a 950-square-foot location in the Market Hall area of Newark’s Gateway One, the eatery announced Dec. 21.

This location will be the restaurant’s first in New Jersey.

“I’m very excited to get back to my New Jersey roots!! What better place to open Mokbar, my flagship restaurant than Newark,” said Chef and Owner Esther Choi, who grew up in New Jersey. “I’m ready to get to work and share my Korean culture and cuisine with the downtown residents and workers!!”

Choi was named on National Restaurant News’ power list in 2019. Newark is home to a growing restaurant scene, and Choi isn’t the first celebrity chef to notice: Marcus Samuelsson opened his restaurant Marcus B&P in town in December 2017.

Onyx Equities LLC, the real estate firm redeveloping Gateway, will host a competition for one Newark-based restaurateur to win the right to operate a fully equipped restaurant space at no upfront cost.

“Just as we’ve brought diverse food options from the other side of the Hudson River to the Gateway Center, it’s important for us to share Newark’s local flavor and culinary talent with central downtown commuters, residents and visitors,” said Matthew Flath, vice president of asset management.

Competition guidelines and an entry form are available online.

The Dec. 21 Mokbar announcement included information on several other tenants that will call Gateway home.

One Step Ahead Learning & Performing Arts Center signed a lease for 5,600 square feet of interior space and approximately 1,000 square feet of exterior space which will be used for a private outdoor playground in Gateway One near the Doubletree Hotel.

Seton Hall University will open a 930-square-foot student center in Gateway Two for its law school and undergraduate students; and The Newark Project All Stars, a charity that connects the city’s youth with members of its business community, will move into 450-square-foot space including corporate offices and meeting spaces for its members.

“Newark’s central downtown area has always had the capability to be a center of commerce. It has the infrastructure and locational attributes needed to become a world-class destination, and a neighborhood that local residents cherish and identify with. It just needed for us to turn Gateway inside-out,” said Jonathan Schultz, co-founder and managing principal for Onyx Equities in a prepared statement.

“Our plans to turn the concourse level from a convenient commuter pass-through into a world-class destination is coming to fruition. It’s very exciting to sign tenants in The Junction who share our vision and belief in Newark,” he said.