Sneak peek: Provisions Market opens in Oyster Bay

A portion of Oyster Bay's historic Snouder building reopens today as Provisions Market, an upscale shop with a vast selection of prepared food and imported products.

Inspired by the general store that once existed in the village, the shop is designed to be a “well-curated, smaller version of Dean and DeLuca meets Williams-Sonoma,” said co-owner Jesse Schenker, who's launched a string of Oyster Bay restaurants in recent years as hospitality partner at Lush Life Group alongside Claudia Taglich. Patrons will be able to sit with a glass of wine or beer while waiting for a rotisserie chicken — “that’s going to be our thing,” Schenker said. The shop is a companion to the nearby Provisions Bread and Cheese, the wholesale bakery where Schenker supplies his restaurants (and a handful of other purveyors) with fresh bread and regional cheeses. Schenker and Taglich are also partners at Four, 2 Spring, Gioia and Gimme Burger.

The renovated space once housed Snouder's Drug Store, which opened in 1884 and was the longest-running business in town. 

Shoppers can expect prepared salads like tuna and egg, steaks, chops, daily fish selections and prepped chicken cutlets with Gioia's sourdough bread crumbs. There are shelves of imported boxed and bottled products. Like something out of a French indie movie, local seasonal produce is displayed in baskets, from green and white asparagus and artichokes to organic potatoes. As for that rotisserie chicken — it's FreeBird (antibiotic-free, free-range, vegetarian-fed), cooked to order and running $10.

“This town needs a market where people can shop. There’s nothing if you don’t make the trip to Whole Foods. No place to get a loaf of sourdough, high quality produce, oils, vinegars and spices,” Schenker said. Pantry staples include rice, polenta, all different kinds of flours, sugar, Asian products like yuzu. Specialties like foie gras and wild mushrooms are represented, but also basics like milk, eggs and half-and-half.

Taglich, meanwhile, has curated gift-worthy housewares from blankets to kitchen utensils, copper pots, plates, pajamas, linens and candles — even a very cool mahjong set — mostly sourced from French trade shows.

For the renovation of the building, Taglich hired award-winning architect Thomas Schlesser, responsible for Manhattan restaurants such as DGBG and Bar Boulud, in addition to Schenker’s former spot, The Gander. There’s a Nordic, minimalistic quality at Provisions, with meticulous attention to detail: Terracotta imported from Sicily, handmade white oak cabinets, Venetian plaster on the ceiling, and a limestone coffee bar with oversized leather stools fronting a pass-through window serving For Five coffee ($3.50 and up).

After hours, The Dinner Table at Provisions is an eight-person table at the front of the shop that can be booked in advance. There will also be special events featuring cheese, charcuterie, drinks and small bites. “We don’t want a froufrou kind of place. That’s not the goal, " Schenker said. "It's priced like Whole Foods. We want this to be a community spot where you can come and get all your stuff when you need it.”

Provisions Market, 108 South St., Oyster Bay, 516-922-3332, provisionsoysterbay.com; Open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

By Marie Elena Martinez

marieelena.martinez@newsday.com@mariesworlds

A global freelancer who has checked her suitcase to raise her young daughter on her native Long Island, Marie Elena will always make time for good mezcal, even better tacos and killer conversation. Preferably, in a corner bar seat. She can be found on Instagram at @mariesworldeats.