West Village’s new H. Valley market stocks a kids’ fridge and trout dog food

Chef Austin Johnson, who once ran the kitchen at One White Street, now has a market and cafe of his own in the West Village. H. Valley opened fully on Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 569 Hudson St., at West 11th Street. For now it is open Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., with limited cafe seating.

Johnson opened the shop with Eytan Sugarman’s Hudson Street Hospitality, whose other businesses include White Horse Tavern and Made in New York Pizza. In Tribeca, Johnson was executive chef at One White Street, which once held a Michelin star, and at Rigor Hill Market next door. H. Valley takes the upscale grocery format he built at Rigor Hill and grows it across 2,500 square feet, with prepared food and local provisions as the focus. Prices run well above what a typical corner grocer charges.

What to eat at H. Valley in the West Village

Each morning, coffee comes with breads and pastries from Grayson Claes, the shop’s head baker, and there is a biscuit filled with bacon, egg and cheese. Saturdays and Sundays add an omelet bar, an idea carried over from Rigor Hill. At lunch Johnson plans six sandwiches, half hot and half cold. One puts turkey on honey-oat sourdough with goat cheese, honey mustard and a slaw of pickled apple.

Cold cases and freezers carry raw meats, dairy, salads, dips, sauces, pastas, breads and complete dinners, plus cuts ready for the home stove, like a rib-eye rubbed with confit garlic. Parents get a fridge of their own, filled with kids’ dishes to warm up. Fish sticks, turkey meatballs and chicken Parm cutlets share space with mac and cheese and red-sauce spaghetti, and sides include peas and carrots or mashed potatoes and gravy.

Four-legged shoppers are covered too. Dion’s Diet, the dog food H. Valley makes itself, combines trout from the Hudson Valley with duck, chicken and vegetables. “The dogs are customers, too,” Johnson said. Birthday cards made from invasive plants also line the shelves.

A family touch, with events to come

Amanda Reilly, Johnson’s wife, designed the interiors, chose what goes on the shelves and hunted down antiques across the Northeast. Their daughter inspired the family-friendly concept. The schedule means Johnson can finish around 8:30 p.m. rather than working the late nights of tasting-menu service. Down the line, the market plans to host pop-ups, guest chefs and private dinners, among other events, and a bigger dining program is expected later this year.