Mondepice, the tea and spice vendor that Washington shoppers have come to know from its stall at the DowntownDC Holiday Market, has opened a permanent shop inside Union Market in NoMa. The shop, which opened on September 15, follows a spring and summer pop-up at the same food hall and gives the brand its first year-round footprint in the District.
According to PoPville, Mondepice has been a familiar name to Washington holiday market shoppers since 2018, when founder François Athea brought the brand to the city's seasonal markets after developing it in South Florida the year before. Customers reportedly kept asking where they could find Mondepice once the holiday markets closed for the season, per Athea, and the new Union Market stall is meant to answer that question by giving the brand a permanent place to build relationships with customers and show them how to use its teas and spices.
Athea's family has been in the spice trade for generations, though accounts of exactly where that lineage began diverge. PoPville's report describes a French family spice business dating back to 1933 across four generations, while The GW Hatchet, citing store records, traces the company's roots to Naples, Italy, in 1933 before it expanded into France and eventually the United States. Athea launched Spices & Tease in New York City in 2009, with locations at Chelsea Market and Grand Central Market, before developing the Mondepice concept in South Florida.
From Holiday Stalls to a Permanent NoMa Address
Before landing at Union Market, Mondepice tested its footing in D.C.'s food hall scene with a pop-up at Western Market in Foggy Bottom that launched on March 20. The GW Hatchet reports that the brand's original plan called for the Western Market opening in January, followed by the Union Market launch in April — a timeline that shifted before the permanent NoMa shop ultimately opened in September. Mondepice also built its earliest D.C. customer base at the DowntownDC Holiday Market along F Street NW, where it appeared among more than 115 local artisans and specialty food vendors, according to the DowntownDC Business Improvement District. That market has only grown since: this year's 22nd season is set to span 41 calendar days, from November 13 to December 23, with 120 vendors expected on F Street NW between 7th and 9th Streets NW, Hoodline previously reported.
The GW Hatchet report describes MRP Realty's work with the Western Market pop-up on regulatory compliance and the challenges involved.
What's on the Shelves at the New Shop
Inside the Union Market stall, the Mondepice team offers guidance on what to choose and how to use it, helping customers explore blends by aroma and flavor, brew particular teas, or find the right seasoning for a specific dish, per PoPville's reporting. The lineup includes loose-leaf teas, signature spice blends, flavored salts, matcha and culinary gift sets, with specific offerings like white teas infused with cherry blossom, Jamaican jerk seasoning, flavored matcha and truffle salts.
The brand has also tailored some of its inventory specifically for local tastes, creating a D.C.-inspired seasoning called Mambo Tango alongside its roasted mate blends and other specialty salts, according to Mondepice's own site. The shop sells online as well as in person, giving D.C. customers a way to reorder favorites between visits to the NoMa food hall.
A Food Hall in Constant Motion
Union Market itself, at 1309 5th Street NE, is owned and developed by real estate firm EDENS and now houses more than 40 independent merchants and food producers under one roof, a legacy of the 2012 revitalization of the historic 1930s market hall that once anchored the Florida Avenue Market. Mondepice's arrival adds to a food hall where a recent pop-up took over a former restaurant space. In July, Hoodline reported on the debut of Not For Long, an Italian disco pop-up bar from mixologist Gina Chersevani that took over the former Bidwell restaurant space. Bidwell opened in 2014 and helped anchor the market.
The market has also leaned on cultural programming to keep foot traffic steady. In September, the Angelika Pop-Up hosted a three-day stop for the American Black Film Festival's D.C. pop-up tour, part of a pattern of arts and film events that Hoodline has noted helps sustain customer visits to the market's permanent retail stalls. Just beyond the market's doors, the surrounding NoMa neighborhood wrapped up its annual NoMa in Color festival in September, adding 16 new murals and bringing the area's total outdoor mural collection to 73 pieces — part of a broader push by the neighborhood's business improvement district to drive foot traffic through public art.
