For Cox's Market, the oldest remaining food purveyor in Princeton, change is really the last thing one would think of when it comes to this culinary mainstay at 180 Nassau Street.
Don't worry, the deli that has been in in existence for nearly 85 years, and that was also rumored to occupy the location of a one-time speakeasy, is not going away, nor is it changing its tried-and-true formula of serving its customers with hearty lunchables and other delicacies.
It's just adding some spice, that's all.
Cox's partners Alan and Marguerite Heap, and Carlos Espichan plan to open a restaurant in a vacant space directly behind its main location featuring a Mexican-meets-eastern Pacific fusion menu. The Cox's owners said that while the basis of their new culinary creations are Mexican, it's not Tex-Mex.
The impetus for the menu theme came from the existing influences of Mr. Espichan and several of the chefs currently working at Cox's who were interested in creating a component with a different flavor. Combine that with Mr. Heap's past culinary experience at the Hong Kong Hilton, and you've got a significant accompaniment to Cox's standard fare.
"We're going to be using ingredients from Alaska to Chile," said Mr. Heap, while handling Cox's morning rush. The foundation of the new menu, however, will be Mexican, he added.
"It's Carlos's strong point, but I was classically trained in French and Italian, but then worked at the [Kauai] Hilton in Hawaii, so I got a good idea of Pacific foods.
"So together with that and the knowledge that Carlos had, we came up with something completely different and it's a fun idea," Mr. Heap said.
As the new restaurant's menu comes to fruition in time for what Mr. Heap expects to be a spring opening, the array of food "gets more and more exciting."
For example, a Mexican base would be anything from empanadas to enchiladas, from tacos to burritos, but all with traditional ingredients.
"What we're going to be doing is all those same things, but with non-traditional ingredients," Mr. Heap said. Some of the sauces will be Chilean or Argentinian, rather than traditional Mexican. The menu will also give a nod to California cuisine, which features "a lot of Japanese influence.
"It's going to be a really odd mixture of a little bit of Asian, a little bit of American, a little bit of Alaskan and some Chile," Mr. Heap said.
Of course, when he refers to "Alaskan," he means Alaskan ingredients like halibut, cod, and king crab. The same goes for any Chilean reference, meaning the new restaurant will feature exotic fish like sea bass and spiny lobster.
In the next few weeks, some new menu items will be "tested" through Cox's Market to see what is palatable and what is, well, questionable.
That said, neither Mr. Heap or Mr. Espichan worry about receiving feedback from Cox's typically honest clientele. "We have a relationship with a lot of our customers, and these guys are going to tell us what they think," Mr. Espichan said.