AsNewYorkers move to Connecticut, so do their restaurants
Jul. 20—The state has also gotten its own outposts of New York City ice cream shop Van Leeuwen — which has shops in Greenwich, Darien and one on the way in New Canaan, according to Construction Journal — and coffee shop Gregory's Coffee.
As far as sit-down dining opportunities, omakase sushi restaurant Kissaki expanded from Manhattan and the Hamptons to Greenwich in late 2021. Other New York City restaurants opening doors in Connecticut are Seamore's in Darien, and Jacob's Pickles, which is set to open soon in the SoNo Collection and Maman in Greenwich.
For Elisa Marshall, cofounder of New York City-based Maman, there were a lot of reasons to expand the coffee shop bakery into Greenwich.
"During COVID, I had so many friends who vacated the city, and so many of them went to Greenwich," Marshall said. "We were really looking to grow our brand outside of the city and kind of explore what other suburbs we think would have enough density and also have customers that know and can relate to the brand."
She has even partnered with fellow NYC-based business The Sill to host a pop-up plant shop. Like Maman, The Sill started in New York City and has expanded to other states.
In 2020, Manhattan restaurant Ipanema, which serves Brazilian and Portuguese food, relocated to Norwalk.
"When coronavirus hit back in March and we had to shut down, we noticed that it was going to be a long-time downturn for the city and we started thinking of our next moves," Ipanema owner Victor Pedro told The Hour in 2020. "I recommended Norwalk to my dad. It fit our vibe and our brand more than other places."
For Pedro, who lives in Westport, the move made his commute a lot easier.
Marshall said she was also drawn to Greenwich for reasons of proximity and convenience.
"It's not too far from our New York locations, or from our commissary kitchen," she said. "Even for staffing, as well. We have quite a few staff who live (in) upper Manhattan who said, you know, 'Oh, my commute to Greenwich is actually shorter than it is to come to downtown Manhattan.'"
The other part was finding a customer base who already knew Maman. In Greenwich, she said that in addition to recent transplants, she meets customers who know the cafe from commuting into the city and are happy to be able to visit with their families in their downtime.
But for Manhattan commuter Kristina Leo who lived in the New York City for eight years and moved to Rowayton in 2019, seeing the same restaurants at home and near work feels monotonous.
"It's typical, I moved back out to (Connecticut) to create some differentiation between my work and home life, and now I have client drinks at Seamore's across from my office and post-train drinks at Seamore's across from the station," Leo said via email.
She said she's less inclined to try restaurants she already knows from New York.
"When I'm in (Connecticut) I would much rather dine somewhere that is one-of-a-kind," she wrote. "As someone who really enjoys eating out, so much of the charm of being out of the city is the differentiation of all the independent restaurants here."
For sustainable seafood restaurant Seamore's, though, Connecticut presented an advantage other than a familiar customer base.
"There's a lot of sustainable local fisheries," said executive chef Shannon Sturz. "Oysters right down the street."
Jacob's Pickles had already made plans to expand into Connecticut prior to the pandemic and the influx of New Yorkers that came with it. When the SoNo Collection opened in 2019, the Southern food chain with locations in Manhattan's Upper West Side, Brooklyn's DUMBO and Penn Station was already on the docket.
Leo said she does have hope for these transplant businesses.
"I do think if executed properly, any new restaurant is a welcome addition out here in the suburbs," she wrote. "That is key — if done right, they can assimilate right into the vibe here and be a value add."
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