Treat Dreams ready for food hall reimagining in 2026

FERNDALE — A longtime Ferndale business will be turning into a food hall next year.

Treat Dreams, located at 22965 Woodward Ave., will be allowing more small food shops to open up under its roof through its transition into a food hall.

The idea to make this change to Treat Dreams had been ruminating for the last year, according to Scott Moloney, owner of the ice cream shop for 15 years. The sandwich business that previously operated at the site closed earlier this year, and he was thinking of ideas on how to help pay the building’s rent.

Moloney said he was approached by Emily Infinity, a musician and worker in hospitality for close to 20 years, about her kava stand, Cosmic Roots. These conversations led to the transition to a food hall.

“I knew I’d do something different,” he said. “That was about four months ago, and the conversation just kept going. And before you know it, we’re adding a couple other partners or participants and it’s becoming this street market/food hall.”

For Cosmic Roots, Infinity sees alcohol consumption on the decline with younger generations and, as she has what she calls a healthy lifestyle, has been drinking kava more and sees it becoming more commercialized and produced for the masses.

“We are trying to create and cultivate a community. It’s a new way of socializing,” she said. “Scott was really open to that, since he had had a couple coffee shops open up and they did not succeed. … I don’t think coffee goes well at night, and it doesn’t really bring people together, either. So kava is basically like the happy alternative to cafes and bars.”

As it stands now, Moloney said there will be five permanent stalls and one stall that will rotate vendors on a weekly or monthly basis. It will be Treat Dreams; Papelon Market, which offers Venezuelan food; a business from Jared Bobkin from “Hell’s Kitchen” with Asian dumplings and bao buns; Cosmic Roots; and a vegetarian shop from Josie Simon.

While the food hall will kick off next year, there will be Taco Tuesday pop-ups starting in November.

“It’s one-part street market with the stalls in the front, one-part dedicated pop-up dinner or dinner event in the back, and that would be seating for 40,” he said. “And our idea is to have those every Friday and Saturday night, and then it’s one-part restaurant incubator, and that’s where that revolving stall comes up. So, if a chef or somebody has always dreamt of having their own place — and the cost of entry is prohibitive for most — this is a great opportunity just to test your product, see if you like it, see if the public likes it and see if there’s a place for you to go from there.”

Infinity said this is something she’s always dreamed of, and she has wanted to introduce more cacao, chocolate and kava into Ferndale.

“Both are really enjoyable beverages with medicinal benefits and focused in a socialized atmosphere,” she said.

Moloney said there’s still one year left on the lease for the Woodward Avenue building, and he’ll know within the next few months whether this concept will work and he can continue leasing the spot.

“I’ve been there for 15 years,” he said. “So, our hope is that it’s successful and that we will then re-up as a group. … I’m excited. I still have just so much to do. It’s hard to overwhelm me, but there’s a lot on my plate. So, I’ll get excited as we get closer.”