Balducci’s, the upscale gourmet market with stores in Cos Cob and Scarsdale, is set to open in Rye Brook at the former D’Agostino’s in the Rye Ridge Shopping Center…
Overpriced/underwhelming -
The scarsdale store is very close to where i live. I’m still amazed that they survived and even seem to thrive.Each time i go in I say it will be the last time,and even with the convenience (closeness),just can’t find anything to really like about them.
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I’d have much rather seen a Trader Joe’s in that area, but the space was obscenely large (and probably prohibitively expensive) for one to go there.
Wasn’t Balducci’s supposed to go there a while ago? Anyone know what the delay was about?
I remember them being in nyc (a couple blocks from Babbo) 20 yrs ago, when did they leave? They used to have great gravlax.
I want to say 6th Ave and Waverly. It was a smallish store with a gorgeous prepared food display as the centerpiece. One day I was shopping and this very tall older lady started talking to me about the haricots vert. I didn’t realize until I was on the other side of the display that it was Julia Child. By then, someone much smarter than I was speaking with her.
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The original Balducci’s was a small upscale family run market in the village. The only thing that is the same is the name,it is currently a small (ish) chain run by a corporation with (I think) several different markets under the same parent company . Imho more concerned with profits than quality. Not bad mind you,but definitely not good vfm and prepared food is bland bland bland:(
I used to live near/shop at the original one in the late 80s. That’s where I saw Julia as noted above. The prepared food there was gorgeous but it always needed extra salt.
The original Balduccis was a very busy market, loaded with customers all day long. Great prepared foods. I believe the Balducci family began feuding and that was the beginning of the end. I disagree with some on this thread. Even in its current incarnation, it is still an above average specialty market with prices to go along with it.
By the way, Homestyle, under salting is a good thing, over salting is not. You can always add salt…
When I buy prepared food at prices upwards of $25 a pound, it had better be seasoned correctly.
Not long ago I worked not far from there and found the food, especially at those prices, to be severely lacking. The poultry products were overcooked and under-seasoned. No amount of russian dressing could help there sandpaper like fresh roasted turkey.
Maybe you can add salt, but it does not taste the same as properly salting while cooking that should definitely happen, and especially at those prices.
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In Old Town Alexandria, Va, Sutton Place was never the same after the name changed to Balducci’s.
It’s 18,000 square feet per an article I just found, a perfect size for TJ’s. I originally thought I’d read that they were going in there (just rumors it turned out). I once mapped it out with their other 3 Westchester County locations, and it formed a perfect diamond, so it would have been a good spot for them.
Of course, a location further north in the county would have been even better, but who knows if that will ever happen.
Ah yes, the former Hay Day location. I found this bit of history in an article about the sale of the chain back in 2009 on a Westport news site:
Westport’s Balducci’s was once known as Hay Day Country Market and was owned by Sutton Place Gourmet.
In 1999, Sutton Placed purchased Balducci’s which then consisted of a 53-year-old grocery store in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan and a cafe and a mail-order business owned by Andy and Nina Balducci.
At the time, Sutton Place owned eight stores with that name, plus four Hay Day Country Farm Market stores in Connecticut, including Westport, and Westchester County. It subsequently renamed its stores Balducci’s.
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I was so disappointed in meat that I bought from the butcher at Hay Day in Scarsdale ( now Balducci’s). It had NO taste at all. And it was quite pricey!
Balducci’s in Rye Brook is now open featuring a ramen bar…
I stopped by last week. Really wanted to like it, but I found the prices way too high and selection not so great. Prices for staples such as milk, eggs, ice cream, etc are all higher than whole foods. Some cheeses were over 25 or 30 $/# which was absurd. I can’t see how they will compete with whole foods in Port chester.
Yes, you have Whole Foods, Port Chester; Tarry Market, Port Chester; now Balducci’s, Rye Brook, just minutes from each other. You can add Citarella, Greenwich into the mix if you wish. We will see how it plays out…
