A local chef is preparing to make life a little easier and more nutritious for Sea Girt residents. Jessica Rogers is opening a second location of her concept, the Blonde Shallot, in the region this spring, reports local media outlet Asbury Park Press.
Rogers spoke with What Now Philadelphia about bringing her delicious, convenient meals to a new home at 527 Washington Boulevard. She explains that the new storefront is a response to market demand. “We’ve been open here for 4.5 years now, 90 percent of my requests come from that area. I had kind of been marinating on it for awhile and this seemed to be a great fit when it came to fruition.”
The Blonde Shallot, like many businesses, is beginning to fully recover from the hits delivered by the pandemic, making her feel that the time is prime for a second location. “In the past year, we have been able to fully staff and work at full operation.” Rogers states. “My whole time has been spent re-building and staging properly. It took a few years after COVID. But people are out of the woodwork now.”
Fans of the Blonde Shallot’s current Little Silver location can rest easy knowing that the Sea Girt store will follow the blueprint laid out by its predecessor, with a few, slight tweaks. “It’s going to be a sister of our Little Silver store, but it has more square footage.” Rogers states. “We’ll have the same product but we will be able to have a few extras. I’m looking to do some beach and weekend-y items. I know there’s summer people and weekend people. We’re adjoined to a liquor store so my plan is to have a small case with charcuterie cheeses and meats that will pair well with a bottle of wine or champagne. I plan to have a dairy case with some great organic milk and eggs, pork roll and bacon and orange juice. Some ‘grab your breakfast’ things. I’m hoping to potentially have a freezer case with some treats-that’s all in the works right now. We want it to be ours, but with a few more extras.”
Sea Girt residents excited to sample one of Roger’s distinctive grab-and-go meals will have plenty of option. Rogers suggests starting with the pretzel chicken, explaining “It’s like chicken nuggets but coated in pretzel and baked instead of fried. We do spaghetti o’s for kids. Our chicken salad-people go bonkers for it! It’s not super mayonnaise-y, but it’s very shredded.”
The Blonde Shallot, which derives its name from one of Rogers’ favorite fashion bloggers called The Blonde Salad, is welcoming to guests with dietary restrictions as well. “We have a ton of gluten-free options.” Rogers says. “I started out with meal delivery before this and I had a lot of gluten-free customers. I mark everything in the store and take that into account when planning the menu. We have a lot of gluten-free and vegetarian options. We always have 4-5 vegetarian options in our salads and an entree.”
Construction is currently underway on the storefront, and Rogers is hoping to begin feeding hungry customers in mid-April.
