More than a Store is a regular column that delves into the experiential side of grocery retailing.
I can’t wait to go back to Wegmans for dinner on my next visit to New York City. And no, I’m not talking about the selection of prepared foods or ready-made sandwiches — although those are delicious too.
I’m craving the Japanese cuisine — and the dining flair — at the grocer’s Next Door restaurant inside its location in the city’s Astor Place neighborhood.
The restaurant, which opened this spring, is the latest move by Wegmans to heat up its rivalry with restaurants. Even for a grocer with a stellar foodservice reputation, opening a fine-dining restaurant in Manhattan seemed like a bold move, so I made a reservation on a Monday night this spring to check it out for myself.
Overall, the dining experience surpassed my expectations. From what I’m calling “sushi bartenders” to a selfie-worthy bathroom, it’s clear that Wegmans is paying attention to details with its elevated atmosphere and cuisine.
To get to Next Door, restaurant-goers enter through the grocery store’s main entrance and then turn left to go through double doors that resemble golden gates. Once inside the restaurant, I felt like I stepped into a new world. There’s a champagne and caviar bar by the entrance, a sushi bar to the left and then typical dining toward the back with olive green, velvety booths and tables with honey-colored chairs that match the golden glow from the lighting fixtures and shiny wall decor.
I sat at the sushi bar, which proved to be a thoroughly entertaining experience. Some of the chefs preparing sushi and sashimi behind the counter were as chatty as bartenders, asking diners if they were visitors or locals and what the rest of their plans for the night were. Watching them make the sashimi was fascinating, even when it was the same three dishes over and over.
The sushi bar wasn’t the only entertaining part of where I was seated. Next Door has windows facing 4th Avenue and East 8th Street, making the busy intersection, which includes the Astor Place subway stop, clearly visible. The restaurant is a prime people-watching spot for people both inside and out.
The atmosphere was lively but not too loud, even as the restaurant became packed with people as the evening wore on. I was pleasantly surprised by how spacious and selfie-worthy the bathroom was, with a large wall decor of a stylish woman and continuation of the golden accents in the dining area.
Cooking with quality
It was slightly hilarious to me that I went to a Japanese restaurant and sat at the sushi counter, even though I don’t eat sushi. Thankfully, that didn’t turn out to be a problem. Instead, I had the baked “Japanese” sweet potato with black garlic-ponzu butter and lime, which was flavorful and filling.
While I did not eat any sushi, I thoroughly enjoyed observing the creation of those menu options. During dinner, I watched the sushi chefs prepare and plate intricately presented dishes that I imagined were as tasty as they were colorful. As the saying goes, the eyes eat first.
For dessert, I had the mochi and fruit platter, which included sliced strawberries and creamy mochi in three flavors: raspberry lychee, mango and chocolate. The plating included a small ice-sculpture-esque logo for Next Door.
Wegmans tapped Oliver Lange as executive chef at Next Door Astor Place. Lange, a critically acclaimed chef who studied the art of Japanese cuisine, has been recognized by Michelin for his work on Silk restaurant in Frankfurt, Germany. Prior to Wegmans, he was corporate executive chef for Zuma United States, the stateside division of a company that runs contemporary Japanese restaurants in multiple countries.
Tapping a well-known, highly skilled chef to lead Next Door could be a key ingredient for the restaurant to stand out in a city filled with a seemingly endless number of high-end restaurant options. Wegmans is combining the asset of a talented chef with the grocer’s supplier access.
“Our food menu is inspired by having access to the best ingredients in the world,” Lange says about the restaurant in a Wegmans video.
Indeed, the grocery store includes a Sakanaya — which means “fish market” in Japanese — with fresh seafood flown in several times a week from Toyosu Fish Market, a Tokyo wholesale market that is one of the largest fish markets in the world.
Next Door is likely capitalizing on Wegmans’ access to top suppliers for ingredients used in Japanese cuisine, which leads me to wonder how widely other grocers would be able to replicate the culinary excellence offered at this restaurant.
Grocers that are interested in opening in-store restaurants could leverage local suppliers and cuisine preferences. Town & Country Markets has tapped into local expertise for its Field House restaurants, which take a market-to-table approach.
No matter what approach grocers take with opening adjacent restaurants, nothing beats the convenience of being able to grab a carton of milk or a pint of ice cream on the way back home from dinner.
