Smith & Wollensky Takes Over for Blue Ginger in Wellesley

When chef Ming Tsai closed down Blue Ginger this summer in Wellesley, the town felt the loss of the 19-year-old restaurant. Now, the vacant space at 583 Washington St. will get a new resident: Smith & Wollensky will open its first suburban Massachusetts location early next year, bringing fancy steaks to the area. The Swellesley Report noted the rumor back in June, and a press release sent by Smith & Wollensky yesterday confirmed the news.

The restaurant group oversees steakhouses in Boston, Chicago, Miami, London, Houston, Las Vegas, New York, and Ohio, and it is headquartered here in Boston. There are two locations in the area already, in Back Bay and on Atlantic Wharf. For this new location in Wellesley, Smith & Wollensky will reportedly renovate the former Blue Ginger space to accommodate 250 seats and around 20 bar seats.

Smith & Wollensky’s beef-centric menu features everything from steak tartare and burgers to dry-aged cuts, steaks, and filets, along with assorted seafood dishes and plenty of sides. Stay tuned for specifics on an opening date for the restaurant.

As for Blue Ginger, Tsai hasn’t announced any plans to open another restaurant along those lines, but he is working on a fast-casual stir-fry restaurant called ChowStirs, slated to open at an undisclosed Boston-area location in early 2018.

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• Ming Tsai Is Closing Down Blue Ginger in Wellesley [EBOS]
• Blue Ginger Replacement: We Wouldn’t Steak Our Reputations on This [SR]