What if a group of chefs decided to get together and open a grocery store? What would it look like? For that matter, what would it smell and taste like?
That idea drove the concept for the new FoodLove Inc. specialty market, which recently opened its doors in Middletown. The chefs are from the Newport Restaurant Group, an award-winning collection of unique restaurant concepts throughout Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts.
“We had considered the idea of an upscale prepared foods market on Aquidneck Island in the past, but it was not until COVID hit [that some things] became clear to us,” said Paul O’Reilly, Newport Restaurant Group CEO and president.
O’Reilly said on my radio show from the patio of his new venture that the idea of extending the company’s restaurant brands to food retailing was not new. Several Rhode Island restaurants blazed that trail some time ago with pasta sauce and other specialties showing up on the state’s supermarket shelves. There were other market factors that showed that the future of restaurants would have to extend beyond their dining rooms.
The grocery industry was making inroads into the mealtime space. Nationally, chains such as Wegmans Food Markets Inc. were moving into prepared foods and even building in-store cafés. Locally, visionary grocers such as Dave’s Fresh Marketplace Inc. – full disclosure, a sponsor of my radio show – Clements Marketplace Inc., Tom’s Market Inc., and Belmont Marketplace Inc. were competing with food service with dinner and lunchtime options.
So the restaurant group decided to build on property at 1037 Aquidneck Ave., Middletown, that it had owned for decades.
The 3,600-square-foot space was designed by McGeorge Architecture Interiors LLC in East Greenwich. FoodLove is intended to be a place to give devoted fans of its signature eateries the opportunity to take favorite dishes home from a grocery store. The offerings are made from recipes taken from the company’s restaurant menus such as Avvio Ristorante chicken parmesan, Trio meatballs with Kenyon’s polenta, summer corn and tomato sauce, and 22 Bowen Wine Bar & Grille’s lobster mac and cheese.
A variety of groceries and local produce and a full café with local coffee and fresh baked goods will be available.
“In some ways, it is counterintuitive to be expanding and building a new business unit during a time when we’re cutting expenses and shrinking the company,” O’Reilly said. “Frankly, it was hard for us to take on an investor to do this project, as we have always been independent and self-sustaining, but the reality is that we could not capitalize on what we felt was the smartest way to adapt to a rapidly changing market.”
The restaurant-grocery combination creates some interesting and challenging scenarios. One is pairing the menu specialties with beverages in a grocery store. As beverage director Sean Westhoven pointed out, most of the food choices were made to be complemented with wines, beer and cocktails. Would this prove to be an obstacle as the worlds of dining and grocery shopping collide? Again, timing is everything. In our drastic life change over the past 17 months, the custom of “cocktails to go” has become part of everyday life.
Could this concept have been successfully undertaken five years ago? Some observers point out similarities between FoodLove and the behemoth food halls such as Italian marketplace chain Eataly. While that may be, FoodLove is not necessarily a food hall. But this concept may be in the right place at the right time for the state’s foodies.
Bruce Newbury’s radio show and podcast, “Dining Out with Bruce Newbury,” is broadcast on WADK 1540 AM and several radio stations throughout New England. Email him at Bruce@BruceNewbury.com.
