LOCAL RESTAURATEUR TO OPEN SHOPS AT WEGMANS

LYNNE MILLER

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A popular restaurateur here will serve up a hometown favorite -- roast beef on weck -- along with other hot, hand-carved sandwiches in the Market Cafe areas of three Wegmans supermarkets.

"We're going to recreate my restaurant in their hot foods cafe," said Charlie Roesch, who operates two family-owned Charlie the Butcher's Kitchen restaurants, and a catering operation.

Roesch told SN he and Wegmans management worked out an agreement to set up miniature versions of the restaurant in three supermarkets in the Buffalo area. Wegmans will pay the restaurateur a fee to have his shops in the stores, Roesch said. Customers will dine in the supermarket cafe areas.

The arrangement appears to be a co-branding union. Wegmans officials told a local newspaper they sought an authentic product to add to the Market Cafe, and decided it would be best to have an outside company with a proven track record to supply Buffalo's favorite sandwich.

"Instead of trying to do our own, we went after the best," a Wegmans official said.

"They were looking for something a little out of the ordinary," Roesch told SN. Restaurant staff will train about 20 Wegmans employees in each store how to cook and carve the meats and serve the sandwiches, which will be sold throughout the day. Dinners will be available after 4 p.m., Roesch said.

The restaurant will install portable cook-and-hold ovens, which will slow-cook the meats. It will be a sight to behold. Customers will observe all food preparation, including the carving, which will be done at a double carving station.

Employees will wear white hard hats and aprons, just as they do at the restaurants.

To make beef on weck, Roesch starts with a USDA Choice top round of beef and cooks it for 18 hours.

The roast is sliced by hand, the meat is piled high on a kaiser roll, encrusted with caraway seeds and rock salt, then dipped in the roast's juices and served with a dollop of horseradish on the side. The sandwich retails for $4.25.

Beef on weck dates back to the 19th century, originating at a downtown Buffalo tavern run by a German immigrant. Roesch wants the sandwich to gain recognition outside Buffalo.

"Everyone's heard of chicken wings in Buffalo," he said. "Why not a beef on weck?"

In addition to the hometown favorite, a rotating sequence of sandwiches made from meats carved by hand will be available throughout the week.

Charlie's menu will include smoked turkey breast with cranberry orange relish, prime rib, corned beef, meat loaf, baked ham and pork roast.

Dinners will include soups, salads and side dishes such as oven-roasted potatoes or German potato salad.

The first Charlie's inside Wegmans should open in October, Roesch said.