Wegmans shopping guide: What to know about the new Lake Grove supermarket

Overwhelming. That’s your first impression of Wegmans. The Rochester-based chain opens its much-anticipated store in Lake Grove Wednesday and, at 101,000 square feet, it’s the biggest supermarket on Long Island.

But it’s not only the size that counts. Wegmans wows with its selection and variety; it’s truly a one-stop shop. You can buy all your regular groceries and household goods here, but it satisfies pretty much all your specialty needs as well. There’s ice cream from Turkey Hill and Van Leeuwen, deli ham and Prosciutto di Parma, Land O Lakes butter and rendered duck fat. And, no matter the category, Wegmans sells a high-quality, value-priced store brand ... or two.

The store also doubles down on prepared foods, with more than 10,000 square feet devoted to sushi, sandwiches, pizza, bowls and hot meals. Here are 10 things to look out for while shopping at Wegmans.

Fish

Wegmans fish department can compete with the best local seafood markets, with a huge selection of fresh (and frozen) items. There are a half-dozen oysters from both coasts and I counted about a dozen whole fish ($6.49 to $17.99 per pound) including red snapper, yellowtail snapper, fluke, gray sole, Arctic char, tilefish, porgy, striped bass and grouper. Buy a whole fish and one of the fishmongers will scale and clean it or remove the head and fins, split it, butterfly it, fillet it or cut it, crosswise, into steaks.

Beef

Across all categories, the Wegmans strategy is to stock items that will suit the budget shopper, the gourmet shopper and every shopper in between. The beef selection is a case in point: Choice strip steaks are $12.99 a pound; upgrade to grass-fed Angus raised in upstate New York, $36.99; dry-aged prime is $51.99 and A5 Wagyu strip is $199.99. Prime strips and rib-eyes ($52.99) are dry-aged in a meat locker on view behind a full-service butcher counter.

Cheese and charcuterie

The cheeses at Wegmans rival those at specialty markets. Popular varieties such as Brie are imported young and then aged at the store’s own cave (the French pronounce it "cahv") upstate. I saw some of my favorite American cheeses — Mt. Tam from Cowgirl Creamery in California and Harbison from Jasper Hill in Vermont — as well as Italian Robiolo, French Epoisses and a majestic Cropwell Bishop Blue Stilton from England. On the cured-meat front were lots of lovely sausages and pates and 18- and 24-month-old Prosciutto di Parma (made especially for Wegmans). Here’s something I’ve never seen in a supermarket: Paleta Iberico de Bellota. (Iberico de Bellota is a breed of black-footed Spanish pigs that are raised on a diet of acorns, and "paleta" refers to the shoulder rather than the leg, which would be "jamon.") 

Pasta and sauce

Wegmans appears to have Long Island figured out with its vast array of pastas, canned tomatoes and sauces. I spied gluten-free, whole grain and ancient grain along with "normal" pasta from Barilla and De Cecco. Under its own name, Wegmans sells a value-priced regular pasta (99 cents a pound) as well as organic ($1.99). The store’s Amore line ($4.99 to $6.99) features fancy shapes such as mafaldine (long, ruffled-edged noodles), paccheri (giant rigatoni), chiocciole (short shells) and casarecce (twists) that are produced in Gragnano, Italy using bronze dies (for a rougher, sauce-clinging surface). At the top of the line is the organic Amore made from kamut, an ancient form of wheat. Among the canned tomatoes I was pleased to see Bianco DiNapoli, a collaboration between California farmer Rob DiNapoli and pizza guru Chris Bianco.

Asian staples

Wegmans really excels here, stocking items usually only found in Asian markets. You’ll find Chinese black vinegar (preferred over all others for dipping dumplings) and chili crisp (super-trendy spicy Chinese condiment that makes everything better), Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise.

Among the collection of Kikkoman soy sauces (small, medium, large, regular, low-sodium), I found the one I most prize, Kikkoman soy made in Japan (and not from Wisconsin). Across the aisle were three brands of medium-grain sushi rices: Kokuho Rose, Nishiski and Botan. Hiding on the bottom shelf were 20-pound bags of Three Elephants basmati rice from Thailand.

Flowers

If "supermarket bouquet" calls to your mind a bundle of carnations and baby's breath, check out the flowers just behind the produce section. You’ll find some premade bouquets, but what impressed me was the selection of loose flowers — roses, alstroemeria (which can last for weeks), gerbera daisies, ranunculi, hydrangeas and more. There are also plenty of leaves and greens so you can make your own bouquet along with, in a more permanent mode, potted orchids.

Frozen produce

I’m a big fan of frozen fruits and vegetables which, unlike fresh ones that need to withstand the challenges of being shipped and displayed, are picked at the peak of ripeness and, thus, often have more flavor. The texture suffers, of course, but that hardly matters if you are cooking them or pureeing them in a smoothie. Wegmans has hundreds of varieties of frozen fruits — including some that you rarely see fresh, such as tart New York State cherries and wild Maine blueberries. On the savory front, I found two of my freezer staples: pearl onions (impossible to peel fresh, great in a stew) and baby artichokes (soooo much better than canned or jarred).

Fancy coffee

I’m a big supporter of Long Island’s independent roasters, but it was hard not to be impressed by the lineup of coffees stocked at Wegmans. There were multiple styles of beans from each of these heavy-hitting brands, Blue Bottle, Counter Culture, Death Wish, Intelligentsia and La Colombe along with more mainstream Peets, Illy and on into Starbucks, Folgers, Cafe Bustelo, Dunkin’ Donuts and Tim Horton plus multiple Wegmans brands.

Beer 

Wegmans takes beer seriously, with more than 1,500 varieties from all over the world and right here on Long Island. You’ll find bottles and cans from Allagash, Brooklyn Brewery, Chimay, Duvel, Franziskaner, Greenport, Lagunitas, Montauk, North Fork, Pilsner Urquell, Warsteiner, Yuengling and much more. Can’t decide? Make your own four-pack of 16-ounce cans ($19.99) or six-pack of 12-ounce cans ($13.99). The cans are helpfully arranged according to flavor profile: light, crisp, fruity, malty, hoppy, sour.

My favorite marmalade

It was shelved not with the other preserves but with imported European specialties, but how thrilled was I to spy Chivers Olde English Marmalade, my absolute favorite. If you’re a fan of dark, bittersweet marmalade with plenty of peel but finely sliced peel, this may become your favorite orange marmalade too. In a similarly Anglophile vein: thick-cut or medium-cut orange marmalade and lemon curd manufactured by Wilkins & Sons, "by appointment to Her Majesty the Queen Purveyors of TipTree Products."