Inside Wegmans’ Upscale Japanese Restaurant in NYC

When Wegmans opened its first New York Metropolis location in 2023, customers started lining up at 2:30am. The grocery retailer, now with 112 areas throughout the East Coast, has a faithful following for its accessible pricing, high-quality ready meals, and glorious customer support. And as of at the moment, Wegmans followers can rejoice over a brand new idea: a high-end Japanese restaurant.

Subsequent Door, positioned inside Wegmans Astor Place, is predicated on its restaurant of the identical title on the unique Rochester, New York outpost. The menu is a collaboration amongst cooks Kazuya Matsuoka, Oliver Lange, and John Emerson. “You’ll see many favorites from Rochester on our Astor Place menu, alongside many new dishes that we’re enthusiastic about,” says Matsuoka. 

The restaurant is something however your typical grocery retailer meals courtroom. The design is lush, with golden hues, a marble sushi bar, customized mosaics, and velvet banquettes. There’s Champagne, tableside service, and loads of caviar. Nonetheless, the main target of the menu is undoubtedly the sushi. 

Wegmans grocery retailer has lengthy been identified for its premium sushi bar and seafood counter, that includes fish flown in from Tokyo’s Toyosu Fish Market, the biggest fish market on the planet. “We’ve the benefit of Wegmans’ longstanding provider relationships — as an illustration, direct entry to the Toyosu Fish Market — permitting us to supply a number of the freshest and highest high quality components accessible,” says Oliver. “At Subsequent Door, we convey the identical dedication to ingredient high quality that has all the time been on the coronary heart of Wegmans.”

After all, all this decadence doesn’t come low-cost. Whereas a nine-piece assorted nigiri set at Wegmans market prices $16, the “chef’s selection,” nine-piece nigiri variation at Subsequent Door is priced a lot increased at $72. Granted, the fish tastes brisker and is introduced on lovely plates, with the nigiri served on a big, rectangular stone. Past that, premium menu objects akin to uni sea urchin will price you as a lot as $42 for 2 items; in the meantime, simply two miles downtown, Nobu serves the identical for $18 apiece.

Along with the uncooked seafood program, which incorporates oysters, sashimi, nigiri, specialty maki rolls, and tartare, Subsequent Door additionally provides ribeye, Tokyo-style tenderloin, and A5 Japanese wagyu, all cooked on a robata grill. Their extra inexpensive vegetable dishes (all beneath $20) are shocking highlights; particularly, the baked candy potato mashed with black garlic ponzu butter and served with candy potato chips for dipping. Throughout my current go to to Subsequent Door, I observed extra tables with the candy potato than with the “chef’s particular” signature platter — a seafood tower of kinds, that includes oyster, king salmon pâté, lobster, and Hokkaido scallops. 

Contemplating the worth and the upscale ambiance, Subsequent Door appears like a special day spot. Nonetheless, the Wegmans crew hopes their Astor Place restaurant turns into a staple of the neighborhood — a restaurant that customers can wander into after selecting up their produce, maybe drawn in by the mysterious, massive golden doorways positioned on to the fitting of the grocery retailer’s exit. For now, should you’re eager about eating at Subsequent Door, it’s most likely finest to make a reservation prematurely. Given how hyped Wegmans’ followers get, it’s possible {that a} desk at Subsequent Door will probably be troublesome to safe.