The New York-based winery and concert venue City Winery is set to open its first Ohio location in Columbus this winter.

The venue, which is also a restaurant, will set up shop in a 130-year-old former fire truck factory called The Fort at 2108 S. High St. on the South Side.

Food News: Mission Coffee relocates to The Fort; The Refectory’s sommelier moves on

The restaurant and winery, which opened its first location in New York City in 2008, has locations in Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Boston and Philadelphia.

Owner Michael Dorf said the Columbus market was a perfect next stop for City Winery, which is also planning new locations in Detroit, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Grand Central Terminal in New York City.

Dorf is excited to bring City Winery's circuit of musicians and another venue to the Columbus music scene.

"In looking at Ohio...Columbus seems to be a much-more-advancing cultural market with a food scene and a wine scene, and just a hunger for better live entertainment," said Dorf.

City Winery will take over nearly half of the Via Vecchia Winery facility and event venue at The Fort. The project will also include other buildings and new construction, including a commercial kitchen and an outdoor built-in concert stage.

The restaurant will be able to seat 75 people indoors and 75 people outdoors. The indoor event venue will be able to accommodate 250 people seated or 350 to 400 standing. The outdoor venue and stage will be able to accommodate 300 people seated or nearly 500 standing and will include multiple bars and fire pits.

Each City Winery location makes wine on-premises, and the Columbus location will be no different. The Columbus facility will import grapes from City Winery's 35 vineyards and partners across the country but make wine onsite, in an approach that Dorf said is more environmentally friendly in terms of shipping and storage.

"There's a very environmentally friendly way to drink wine and actually a very delicious way to consume it because you don't have to add sulfites and preservatives," said Dorf. Wine will be on tap, with 70% of City Winery's wine being sold on-site.

As far as the menu, Dorf said the food will be "wine-inspired" and locally sourced, with global influences from Europe and the Mediterranean, including flatbreads, risotto balls and branzino fish. While the menu will include primarily City Winery staples, a portion of the menu will be locally developed by an executive chef.

Dorf expects City Winery to open late this year or early 2023.

tmoorman@dispatch.com

@TaijuanNichole

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: City Winery restaurant and concert venue planned for South Side