Wonder Chelsea
Restaurant · Chelsea ·
Multi-concept food hall offers pizza, Mexican, Japanese, fried chicken
Multi-concept food hall offers pizza, Mexican, Japanese, fried chicken
"Described by the company as "a new kind of food hall" and pitching itself to be "the super app for mealtime," this single-kitchen, multi-brand concept offers menus from multiple restaurants in one physical location and emphasizes vertical control over the full experience. According to a press release, the acquisition of Tastemade gives it "access to Tastemade’s robust digital audience" which will "power its retail media business, and enhance its content marketing engine." Founder and CEO Marc Lore told Business Insider, "[w]e're vertically integrated. We do everything. It's our app. It's our delivery, and it's our cooking. We own the rights to those brands." Trade reporting notes the company pays chef and restaurant partners a fee and stock in lieu of royalties and has invested heavily in intellectual property; Kristen Hawley wrote for Eater that what sets the operation apart is control of "the entire experience, from recipe to fulfillment, and the company has spent $60 million so far on intellectual property — recipes and restaurant concepts — from its partner chefs," and that the company brings a "savvy curatorial eye" offering "proximity" to elevated experiences. Operationally, food is often prepared and par-cooked in a commissary kitchen, then distributed to individual restaurants within the site to be finished by "lightly trained labor" using only a hot-water bath, a rapid-cook oven, or a fryer; because the restaurants don't require gas stoves or exhaust systems, locations can be built quickly and affordably. The New York Times reported that, as of March 2024, there could be "as many as 500 items available for order at a given" site, "across 28 distinct menus." The company reports typical delivery times of around 30 minutes, and the November acquisition of a major delivery platform both expands distribution and, per the platform's own press materials, supports a stated goal of "re-envisioning the future of food delivery" and making "great food more accessible." Critical reception of the Chelsea site has been mixed: in a May review the food at the location earned mostly around a B, with the reviewer finding the pizza solid but some partner sandwiches (for example, a pepper-and-feta chef-partnered sandwich and a brisket sandwich) uneven." - Bettina Makalintal
"At the new Wonder ghost kitchen and food hall at 128 W. 23rd Street I found a concept built around delivery and takeout: entrepreneur Marc Lore opened the first locations in 2023 and has already rolled out 12 (six in New York City, five in New Jersey, and one in Pennsylvania) as the first of 100 expected by 2025. The venture spent $60 million on recipes and restaurant concepts from partner chefs, including Marcus Samuelsson and José Andrés, and bills itself as “a new kind of food hall — iconic chefs and top restaurants.” The Chelsea branch is a cramped but tastefully done space in somber gray and forest green, with a rack of menus, touchscreens, and a counter where delivery workers pick up orders; across Wonder locations roughly half the establishments (15 of 29) are associated with celebrity chefs." - Robert Sietsema
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