Founder Sammy Nussdorf sitting in front of his fresh bread and produce at Meadow Lane in Tribeca in NYC.
Matthew Kappas
Founder and owner Sammy Nussdorf describes Meadow Lane, which opened in mid-November in Tribeca in Lower Manhattan, as a “gourmet prepared food market. Prepared foods are the bulk of our business.” Its opening has caused quite the buzz in Manhattan, mostly because of Nussdorf’s 130,000 TikTok followers with 6 million likes, who have been anticipating its arrival for over a year.
Indeed, photos of crowds lining up before its noon opening are cropping up on TikTok. So why has it generated such a crowd and so much anticipation?
Nussdorf attributes it squarely on the impact of TikTok. “I’ve documented this journey from the beginning. People have been seeing this business built for a year and a half. Many New Yorkers are excited when a new food concept arrives,” he explains.
Nussdorf continues as director of the Spring St. Group, a New York City venture capital firm, so he knows his way around money and financing businesses. In this case, Nussdorf is capitalizing the launch, without requiring angel investors, a rarity these days. He acknowledges that “liquidity is obviously crucial for building and maintaining any sort of brick-and-mortar business, especially in Manhattan.”
He describes the food at Meadow Lane as a combination of items such as roasted chicken from well-respected Snowdance Farm, turkey chili, salad and soups, as well as Meadow Lane fried chicken tenders.
Prepared Foods and More
Inside the store, it has a special coffee and pastry section with coffee from La Cabra (which has several retail shops in the city), matcha from Montauk General Store, its prepared food section, fresh dairy and produce and then its curated section of pastas and grains. Because of Nussdorf’s interest in floral design, there’s also a special section in the front with plants for sale.
Nutritious But Also Indulgent Food
Nussdorf describes most of the food sold at Meadow Lane as specializing in “high-quality ingredients. It doesn’t mean low-calorie, but appeals to someone who wants clean, nutritious and dense food, but if someone wants to indulge, there’s that option.” Hence, the chicken tenders.
Asked to compare Meadow Lane with Whole Foods or Erewhon, the noted California gourmet grocer, Nussdorf notes that Whole Foods is totally different and not in the “same stratosphere since they’re a high-end big box and grocery store.” Erewhon is more similar since they’re also offering “high-quality organic produce and prepared foods and coffee but we’re much smaller and don’t have plans to expand to that scale.”
“Everything is grab and go,” because that’s what busy New Yorkers expect these days, he explains to me on a press preview, a day before its official mid-November debut. Grab and go, of course, means take it from the gourmet grocer, put in the oven or microwave, heat it up, and voila, instant gourmet dinner.
Why Grab and Go Works for New Yorkers
He explains that grab and go works for most New Yorkers because “people are stuck between either going out and buying groceries, which is time-consuming, and not conducive for the lifestyle of most busy, gainfully employed New Yorkers.”
And the other option is dining out at Sweetgreen, Cava and Dig Inn, which he says are “good but can get redundant.” And most others restaurants are pricey. At Meadow Lane, they can buy prepared food and stock their refrigerators for 3 days, without worrying.
Why does it open currently at noon, which seems late, and closes at 8 p.m.? Nussdorf replies that “We’re trying to keep up with the demand and prioritize quality control. We’ve been selling out of most products in several hours,” he adds.
It’s located in Tribeca, which recently surpassed the Upper East Side, as NYC’s wealthiest zip codes. In fact, Nussdorf says that he’s been accused on social media of contributing to “gentrifying” the neighborhood, which he says, is far from the truth since it has been gentrified years ago.
He considered several neighborhoods besides Tribeca, but he was searching for the “right street, right corner, right clientele” as well having the right mechanics and plumbing. Moreover, Tribeca seemed fitting since it contained “affluent residents and families but also many younger people, including many gallery workers, doctors and nurses, students and West Side Highway runners.”
Nussdorf was raised on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and graduated from New York University so he’s a native New Yorker through-and-through.
Despite its luxury identification, Nussdorf has said he wants it to appeal to a cross-section of New Yorkers, not just the elite, and several prepared foods are priced under $15.
He also says delivery will play a major role at Meadow Lane. It has an entirely separate entrance and system for third-party deliverers and its apps. It’s also signed contracts with Uber and Doordash, which will start after they get off the ground and feel comfortable. “We want to perfect the in-store experience before we move on to delivery,” he says.
More to Come But Not Soon
He clearly sees this venture as a prototype and thinks it would mostly work in affluent neighborhoods, appealing to mostly locals. But he adds that the next move won’t happen until Meadow Lane “becomes a well-oiled machine and our kinks are worked out and we learn from our mistakes.”
Speaking of mistakes, TicTok loyalists have questioned some of what is going on at Meadow Lane including some mislabeling of items. He replies, “Legitimate feedback we take seriously. If something is mislabeled, we take that seriously and correct it.” However, Nussdorf has tried to pay no attention to snarky comments about his being a nepo baby and worse than that.
Asked the keys to its future success, Nussdorf replies that: 1) We need to be consistent, 2) Operate as a strong unified team, 3) Be honest and accountable and do right with our customers, giving refunds where appropriate.