Good morning. It’s Tuesday. Today we’ll look at the gourmet groceries that some residents of the Hamptons flock to, even if a melon might cost $400.
This summer, New Yorkers in the market for $400 melons, a $159 sweatshirt or perhaps some veal baby food need only travel as far as Southampton, where all the above can be found in at least one of the area’s pricey gourmet grocery stores. My colleague Dionne Searcey reported on the fierce high-end grocery competition going down in the Hamptons this summer. As much of New York grapples with an affordability crisis, these specialty stores are seemingly unaffected, ramping up prices and stocking shelves with niche items for the personal chefs, influencers and summer residents who shop there. Some shops, like the Sagaponack General Store, are longtime favorites that are leveling up with multimillion-dollar expansions. The general store’s revival was financed by Mindy Gray — wife of Jonathan Gray, the billionaire president of the investment firm Blackstone — who snapped up the store when it came up for sale during the pandemic. Ms. Gray’s cash infusion supplied the business with a restored front porch and a line of hoodies (for $159) and tote bags (from $65 to $142). Another store, Loaves & Fishes in Sagaponack, raised its prices so conspicuously this year that some residents have started calling it “Thieves and Fishes” instead. The store, which said the increase took into account the price of new organic ingredients, also rarely includes price tags on its wares. “We don’t do little signs,” said Karina Forrest, the manager. If Loaves & Fishes did do little signs, customers would see how much the chunky halibut fish salad or the jars of veal baby food lining the shelves were going for. (They’d most likely be on par with the store’s viral $100-a-pound lobster salad.) For some, a ‘free-rotisserie-chicken budget’Of course, not everyone in the Hamptons is a high-end shopper. Workers dropping off their products at the stores say they are priced out of many offerings. Matthew Maitland, who was visiting Sagaponack General to stock shelves with his plant-based milk brand, said he had bartered with the staff for a free rotisserie chicken. Mr. Maitland said he was tempted by the new merch Ms. Gray had brought to the store. “I was going to buy a hoodie,” he said, “but I’m on a free-rotisserie-chicken budget.” And speaking of chicken: During the several days Dionne spent in the Hamptons, she noticed that for all the specialty products on the shelves — the items that caused influencers to flock to the markets — there was also huge demand for certain very regular products: namely, Dionne said, chicken salad and chicken tenders. Some of the stores competed to see whose chicken products were the best or most popular. Dionne surmised that this was because these were good foods to take to the beach, in a way that pink oyster mushrooms or caviar just never would be. Each store has its own niche, owners sayResidents are finding themselves pulled apart by the proliferation of gourmet groceries. But plenty of them are still loyal to their favorites. Tony Schlesinger, a Hamptons summer resident, said his wife had attempted to visit Sagaponack General upon its reopening but had found the parking lot too packed to enter. For his part, Mr. Schlesinger said, “I’m a slave to Round Swamp — their prices are insane, but it’s still cheaper than going out.” The gourmet groceries’ owners say that despite the hint of a rivalry among them, each store has its own niche and its own clientele. Dionne herself observed this, down to the time of day that each store’s customer base came in. In the early morning, Dionne saw, private chefs flocked to Farm and Forage, scavenging for specialty ingredients. (Dionne said the store even let the chefs in an hour before opening time.) In the late morning, Round Swamp was filled with shoppers headed to the beach or coming from Pilates. At the newly opened Sagaponack General, there was a mix — some older people, stopping in for a latte as they picked up their mail in the adjoining post office, and some younger influencers. And around lunchtime at Loaves & Fishes, well-dressed women in their 60s and 70s poured in. WEATHER It will be increasingly cloudy with a high near 94 degrees. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a low near 75. Showers and thunderstorms are possible this afternoon and tonight. ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING In effect until Aug. 3 (Tisha B’Av). The latest Metro news
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Dear Diary: For more than 30 years, on dozens of visits to New York City, my wife and I stayed at the Salisbury Hotel on West 57th Street. Sadly, the Salisbury, which opened in 1929, closed during the coronavirus pandemic — a victim most likely of the boom along what is now called Billionaires’ Row. When I heard it would be closing, I called and talked to a front-desk employee who had been there more than 15 years. We shared stories about the place’s faded charm, slow elevators, huge suites and modest prices. No room service? So what? You’re in New York! On our last trip to the city, we stayed at a newer, slicker, pricier hotel. It was fine, but it would never be a home away from home like our beloved Salisbury. On the final day of our visit, we went to 57th Street to get some pictures of the marquee and boarded-up lobby. Peering in a dusty window, we saw that the reservations counter was intact but speckled with paint and covered with sawdust and scraps of wood. A worker in a hard hat was behind the counter. He looked at us quizzically. I wanted to yell: “Hey, we’ve lost our key! Can you let us in?” but it was too late for that. We just waved, took a few photos and walked away. — Chris Tucker Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Send submissions here and read more Metropolitan Diary here. Glad we could get together here. T.R. P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here. Luke Caramanico and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.
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