The Almond team is introducing a new concept to Bridgehampton. Photo courtesy of Kimchi Jews
This spring, the Almond team will introduce a new concept to Bridgehampton. L&W Market, which is adjacent to the Bridgehampton restaurant, anticipates a June opening. The market will feature a wide array of eats, including options for beach-goers, families, and grocery shoppers with not enough time to grocery shop. The market, with its prime Main Street real estate, may be Bridgehampton’s most anticipated warm weather opening.
The market’s front space will boast a self-service coffee bar, with cold-brew hot, decaf, and iced coffee. Fresh pastries will be available for purchase daily—and the market will open at 7 a.m., to accommodate trade workers and early risers looking for a morning sandwich. But the market is far more than a deli in sheep’s clothing (and subway tile and reclaimed wood).
L&W will feature a wall of nonperishable goods, including a line of fermented foods from Chefs Jason Weiner (an Almond founder and partner) and Jeremy Blutstein. The line, called Kimchi Jews, will make its retail debut at the market. It includes, among other things, kimchi, sauerkraut, fish sauce, fire cider, and various types of miso. Products are made from locally sourced produce, grain, and protein. Additional nonperishables will also be featured from a diverse lineup of producers, the list of which is still being finalized.
Large refrigerator units on the market’s wall will host grab-n-go items, from premade salads and sandwiches (prepared daily) to dinner items, like Almond’s iconic macaroni and cheese. But the market goes far beyond average. Available specialty items run the gamut from the luxurious (lobster compound butter, curried mussels, smoked fish, marinated octopus, rillete, pickled herring, gravlax) to the every day (hot and cold sandwiches, fresh produce, refrigerator pickles, eggs, penny candy, jerky, olives, hot sauces, nuts and grains, loose tea, cocktail sauce). The market will provide shoppers with an upscale shopping option where they can get everything they need—including prepared food to serve for dinner.
Particularly ambitious is the addition of a rotisserie to the space, where the team will roast rotating meats daily. Some selections will include leg of lamb and whole chicken, which will be available as take out meals. L&W is also in the process of creating an app that will lessen the Hamptons burden on eager eaters. Rather than wait on line for thirty minutes as food is prepared, shoppers will be able to put their orders in at home, from a web platform that will feature all of the market’s available products. Once they arrive at the market, their food will be waiting in a specifically designated pick-up area.
Better yet, the team plans to keep the market open year-round, accommodating both seasonal and year-round clients. Hours of operation are currently scheduled as 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily. These hours may reduce in the off-season, but the team currently intends to continue to serve food seven days a week, even in the colder months.
L&W is owned by Eric Lemonides and Jason Weiner, the collaborating team behind Almond Bridgehampton and Almond Flatiron. Much of the interior work—a large wall of reclaimed wood, for example—has been completed by Mr. Lemonides himself. The yet-unopened market references its building’s early 1900s past, with black grouted wall tile, a pressed tin ceiling (also painted black), and mosaic floor tile that will feature a “carpet” with the restaurant’s name. The feel is industrial pharmacy.
The icing on the cake, perhaps, is that patrons will be able to use Almond’s outdoor seating should they choose to stick around for a bite. Although the food at L&W Market is purely take out, the next door restaurant is not open for lunch service and will offer seating (as well as bussing between guests) for those interested in taking a sandwich onto Main Street for prime Hamptons people-watching. And who won’t be happy to welcome a new shopping option to the area? I know I will.
