Dive Brief:
- Seattle-area grocery chain Town & Country Markets is taking on restaurants with the debut of a market-to-table restaurant called Field House.
- The grocer collaborated with chef and restaurateur Ethan Stowell on the concept’s menu, which serves up “classic favorites drawing inspiration from the markets’ pantries, seasonal ingredients and regional purveyors,” the announcement said.
- Field House held its grand opening on July 19 inside the Town & Country Market store in Mill Creek, Washington. The grocer said it plans to also bring the concept to its Lakemont location in Bellevue, Washington, and its store in Poulsbo, Washington.
Dive Insight:
Town & Country Markets positioned its new restaurant concept as a way to transform the grocery experience by showcasing the quality of the ingredients it sells.
“We’re passionate about food at T&C, and Field House allows us to create a real sense of place by bringing our best foods and the community together,” Town & Country Markets CEO Ryan Ritter said in a statement.
Field House’s menu includes options like pizza, burgers, sandwiches and specialty entrees with “a creative twist” like smoked brisket tots, a sockeye BLT and Dungeness crab cakes, the press release said. The restaurant also has a kid’s menu that includes chicken strips, fries and cheese quesadillas. Field House will offer a weekend brunch featuring a Macrina cinnamon roll, Nutella pancakes and a smoked salmon and spinach scramble.
Stowell, a James Beard Award-nominated chef whose restaurant business runs more than two dozen restaurants in the Puget Sound region, designed the menu and helped Town & Country Markets create a “top-notch hospitality experience,” Ritter said. Stowell will also give hands-on training, the announcement noted.
Town & Country Markets, which was founded in 1957 by brothers John and Mo Nakata and their friend Ed Loverich, has six stores in the Puget Sound region. The name “Field House” gives a nod to its founders — naka means “middle” and ta means “field” — and its inspiration stems from the family’s Middlefield Farm on Bainbridge Island.
Field House comes at a time when grocers are increasingly ramping up foodservice options and adding in-store restaurants.
Macey's Market Little Cottonwood in Sandy, Utah, for example, recently debuted a new in-store restaurant called White Pine Sushi to tap into the food’s growing popularity. The full-menu establishment offers a variety of Japanese cuisine, including traditional, specialty and deep-fried tempura rolls made to order.
Meanwhile, Walmart has added to its list of partners for in-store, made-to-order restaurants with newly announced plans to bring Texas-based Mr. Gatti’s Pizza to 92 locations across Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kentucky. Walmart has also been growing the number of its locations with in-store poke restaurants through its partnership with Uncle Sharkii Poke Bar.
