Epic food hall to open at SFO featuring Tartine, Kin Khao, Cala

The International Terminal. The International Terminal. Photo: Eric Luse, The Chronicle Photo: Eric Luse, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 19 Caption Close Epic food hall to open at SFO featuring Tartine, Kin Khao, Cala 1 / 19 Back to Gallery

Kin Khao. Cala. Tartine.

A food hall of epic proportions is in the works at the San Francisco International Airport. It will be led by a trio of women: Pim Techamuanvivit of Kin Khao, Gabriela Cámara of Cala and Elisabeth Prueitt, who runs the growing Tartine empire with husband Chad Robertson.

If all goes according to plan, the project, called Manufactory Food Hall, will open in mid-2018 and span more than 3,200 square feet near boarding area A in the International Terminal. It will have three restaurants, according to the parties involved, with grab-and-go options, a full-service bar and a retail component.

For Techamuanvivit, the project was a chance to work with people she’s known for years. It’s also somewhat of an experiment, a chance to test how Kin Khao’s Thai food can be repackaged into something fast-casual.

“We are kind of thinking of it as a puzzle needing to be solved,” she said. “The food at airports has been improving — I think we’re all beginning to see that.”

Kin Khao’s food hall menu will include rice bowls, noodles, grilled meats and retail goods, Techamuanvivit said.

Cámara will serve tacos, tostadas and tortas, similar in some ways to Cala’s popular lunch-only back-alley taqueria, Tacos Cala.

For Tartine, this is yet another major venture for the new year. In addition to the SFO project, the company is also adding a Tartine Manufactory outpost in downtown Los Angeles and a Coffee Manufactory in Oakland’s Jack London Square, the latter of which will span 5,000 square feet and serve as the headquarters of Tartine’s newly formed coffee roasting company.

Tartine’s SFO location will have a full-service side, similar to its Manufactory in the Mission, and it will also have a bakery counter, selling pastries (including Tartine’s famous morning buns).

This project comes at a time when SFO is emphasizing new restaurants, a major tentpole of its ongoing multibillion-dollar renovation efforts. The food hall will be a partnership with SSP America, a company specializing in airport concessions; it brought Shake Shack to New York’s JFK Airport several years ago.

Tartine COO Chris Jordan said that he and the other Bay Area restaurant operators gave the project a green light only when they were assured control of the products — so day-to-day operations will be run by the companies, rather than third parties, as is common at large venues like airports.

“One thing about all the brands, even though we kind of roll around and engage in fine dining circles, the food we present is pretty simple,” Jordan said. “We all get to figure out how to deliver this new experience together.”

Justin Phillips is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: jphillips@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JustMrPhillips