Gourmet shop and catering service to relocate from Nassau Street
By: Marjorie Censer
Chez Alice the Nassau Street gourmet shop and catering service will soon be moving to Palmer Square as part of a more general reorganization of the company.
The store operates two other cafés the Open Book Café at the Princeton Public Library and the Café at the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton. Chez Alice has already relocated its catering division and corporate office from the Nassau Street store to its location at the Grounds for Sculpture.
At the Palmer Square shop the precise location of which Palmer Square Management declined to identify owner Kelly Hamdan said she plans to be open for breakfast, lunch and into the early evening and will sell pastries, cakes and other desserts. She said she has not yet set the menu, however.
The new location will provide roughly 40 seats, she expects, allowing eat-in or take-out service.
Ms. Hamdan, who has owned Chez Alice since 1997, said she considered several locations before choosing one in Palmer Square. She opted to move in favor of a location that would be better for customers.
"I was looking for a store that was more employee- and customer-friendly," she said. She said she thinks patrons will enjoy eating the gourmet sandwiches and soups the store will offer while seated inside.
"In this kind of weather, there’s no place for people to sit," she said of the Nassau Street spot, noting that during the summer, many people would sit on the curb outside.
Chez Alice, which was founded in 1991, will not change its catering service, but Ms. Hamdan said it will be more efficient for all the catering to be centered in one location in Hamilton. In fact, she added, the kitchen there is also better.
The Nassau Street location closes Dec. 31, but the Palmer Square spot is not slated to open until the beginning of March, Ms. Hamdan said. However, customers can order desserts and pick them up from one of the cafes at the library or at the Grounds for Sculpture during the gap period, and the catering service will not be affected.
"There’s a small gap, but it’s still business as usual," Ms. Hamdan said.
She added that she is looking forward to moving to the square.
"The square is just so lovely," Ms. Hamdan said. "There’s a lot of activity down there."

