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The basic ingredients:

• Over the past year, celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson has opened two distinct eateries in New Jersey.
• His new eateries are Vibe BBQ, serving classic American comfort food and experiential dining concept Marcus Live! Bar & Grille at American Dream.
• Samuelsson has had a presence in Newark since 2017, when he opened the soul food restaurant Marcus B&P, which was converted into a community kitchen during the pandemic.

For celebrity chef and restaurateur Marcus Samuelsson, New Jersey is shaping up to be a great place to do business.

Over the past year, he has launched two very different eateries in the Garden State: family-friendly casual spot Vibe BBQ in Newark and experiential dining concept Marcus Live! Bar & Grille at American Dream mall in East Rutherford.

The chef recently spoke with NJBIZ about developing the restaurants, what makes them special and why he continues to invest in New Jersey’s diverse culinary landscape.

Besides providing couples with a romantic space to share a meal and families a spot to celebrate a birthday, restaurants produce millions of jobs, both in the front and back of house.

Like Samuelsson’s other restaurants around the globe, Marcus Live! and Vibe BBQ have a similar focus on local jobs, local ingredients and local arts & entertainment. “We think about that a lot. Localism provides jobs and opportunities in the area,” he explained.

Born in Ethiopia and raised in Sweden, Samuelsson moved to New York at 23 to work as a sous chef. He quickly worked his way up and was named executive chef of Aquavit. Soon after he became the youngest person ever to earn a coveted three-star review from The New York Times.

As a professional chef, he has also received eight James Beard Foundation Awards, cooked for President Barack Obama and won numerous competitions, including Chopped All-Stars and Top Chef Masters. Additionally, he’s written numerous cookbooks and memoirs.

Since founding his Harlem-based restaurant group in 2010, Samuelsson has expanded the portfolio to include 15 properties, such as Red Rooster in Harlem and Metropolis in Soho. Along with several other New York City establishments (Hav & Mar, Streetbird and Ginny’s Supper Club), the business has restaurants in Sweden, Canada, Ethiopia, Atlanta, Las Vegas, the Bahamas and Miami.

While Samuelsson opened a rooftop restaurant at the top of the EnVue Hotel in Weehawken during the middle of the pandemic in August 2020, the establishment closed less than two years later.

Commenting on his recent push into New Jersey, Samuelsson said, “We’re very excited about it.”

“When you work in New York, so much of the produce and so many of the chefs always come from New Jersey, so it’s fun to actually now be part of the restaurant and hospitality scene in New Jersey,” the longtime Harlem resident said.

Samuelsson noted that his group works often with many New Jersey-based farmers and vendors to source ingredients, as well as food tech startups and urban farms that call the Garden State home.

Downtown dining

Samuelsson is no stranger to Newark. “I’ve worked a lot in Newark and love Newark and the history being around traditionally African American historic neighborhoods,” he said. “Newark is just a great place to be part of.”

He first joined the Brick City’s food scene in 2017 with Marcus B&P, a Hasley Street spot specializing in soul food that quickly became one of the area’s most high-profile restaurants. Located in the redeveloped Hahne & Co. building, the eatery joined a lineup at the mixed-use property that includes luxury apartments and the city’s first Whole Foods Market.

At the time, Samuelsson told NJ Advance Media that it’s up to him and his staff to “earn” the people of Newark’s time. “We’re spending a lot of time in Newark and learning about Newark as a place and how we can fit into the community. The hours are something that we have to earn … People are going to tell us when they want us to be open. The locals, Audible, Rutgers, the person who works down the street, it’s a very diverse community with different hours. It’s up to us to earn it,” he explained.

During the COVID crisis, Samuelsson’s group partnered with Washington, D.C.-headquartered charity World Central Kitchen and converted Red Rooser Harlem, Marcus B&P and Red Rooster Overtown into community kitchens serving well over 280,000 meals to those in need.

In Newark, Marcus B&P also teamed up with Newark-based audiobook seller and producer Audible and World Central Kitchen to create Newark Working Kitchens, which engaged 37 local restaurants to deliver over 1.6 million meals to vulnerable residents between 2020 and 2024.

After using Marcus B&P as a community kitchen for 18 months, Samuelsson began welcoming customers back to the restaurant in October 2021. But the world in which restaurants reopened to was different than what it was pre-March 2020. So, like many owners, Samuelsson needed to reevaluate his business in Newark.

Ultimately, Samuelsson decided to revamp Marcus B&P into a place inspired by one of American’s favorite cuisines – barbecue. Given the continuing demand for takeout and pickup options from restaurants, Samuelsson said they renovated Marcus B&P “into something that can be more pick-up driven.”

“That was hard for us to do with B&P,” he explained. “This is just a later version of that restaurant.”

“Looking at the population in Newark, especially in terms of those connected to Rutgers, Audible or even Prudential, I just feel like as a modern restaurant you have to be both a place people want to come to and also a place that people can eat from their desk or their apartment,” he said. “I think that’s always been part of the dining experience, but post-pandemic it’s becoming clear that’s a big part of it.”

A vibe and a dream

Officially opened in March, Vibe BBQ features a mix of house-smoked meats and classic American comfort food. Serving lunch and dinner daily, the menu includes smoked chicken wings, pulled pork sandwiches, Texas toast smoked brisket sandwiches, greens, cornbread, macaroni & cheese, and cocktails.

Meat options range from dry rubbed spare rubs to chopped brisket, jerk chicken and smoked beef sausage, all of which can be purchased a la carte or by the tray. There’s also vegan and vegetarian options such as barbecue cauliflower, an Impossible Smashburger, hot cauliflower bites and salad.

The 2,250-square-foot, 60-seat eatery is situated within walking distance of several prominent downtown properties, like the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the Prudential Center, The Newark Museum of Art, Newark Penn Station and the Newark campus of Rutgers University. Its staff of 60 employees is made up entirely of local residents, according to a spokesperson for Samuelsson’s group.

Samuelsson said his favorite part of Vibe BBQ is “the fun nature of the restaurant.”

“Barbecue is comfort food and close to many people’s hearts. I feel like that’s something that we worked on for a long time to get to something that’s really special,” he said. “It’s great vibes and great barbecue.”

Specifically developed for American Dream, Marcus Live! Bar & Grille is a 7,000-square-foot, 180-seat restaurant inspired by the megamall’s innovative approach to retail, dining and entertainment.

With its kitchen in the middle of the space, diners are given a front-row seat to the action as chefs create some of Samuelsson’s most celebrated dishes, like hot honey chicken, jerk pork belly wraps and cornbread waffles. There’s also tavern-style pizza, fire-roasted four cheese mac, truffle fries, hot honey salmon, grilled lamb chops, New York strip steaks and prime burgers.

The eatery debuted in December 2023, joining a lineup of full-service restaurant options that includes Carpaccio, Around The Clock, House of ‘Que, Jarana, Little Sheep Hot Pot, Mozzarella Bar, Yard House, Vinoteca, Szechuan Opera and MrBeast Burger.

Marcus Live! Bar & Grille employs 40 workers from the area. It also showcases art by local artists that is available for purchase.

For Samuelsson, the “fun and upbeat” vibe at American Dream was “a good starting point” when it came to developing a concept. Besides shopping, the mall boasts a lineup of attractions that includes Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park, DreamWorks Water Park, Legoland Discovery Center, Big Snow, Sea Life Aquarium, Activate, Paradox, New Jersey Hall of Fame and Gameroom Powered by Hasbro.

“It’s such a lively place and so much action,” Samuelsson said. “So, a restaurant would have to match that energy that you get when you step into American Dream.”

That’s what led him to come up with a restaurant centered upon experiential dining. “People want to have fun when they go out, of course, but now people want to share those experiences through social media. We didn’t have that in the same way, 10, 15 years ago,” he said.

“We wanted to create a really fun back-and-forth environment that brings people closer to the experience,” he said. “Also, a restaurant that feels most special but rooted in comfort food that people can relate to.”

Of all of Samuelsson’s projects, this was his 8-year-old son’s favorite, “Because it meant he could go to the waterpark or another experience while I’m doing research, he’s hanging out with his friends.

“It was many trips to get an understanding of what’s already there and what can we add on to make the whole American Dream better,” he said.

One of the biggest challenges Samuelsson faced opening the restaurant was not letting the COVID crisis dissuade him. “You can think about it and think about what if something happens again and all those things, but it’s important to look forward and not be intimidated. I think it’s important to continue the journey as a chef,” he explained.

In fact, Samuelsson has pressed forward with several openings over the last two years. “We are excited to focus on those throughout the rest of this year and into 2025 – from the NY/NJ area with Metropolis, Hav & Mar, Vibe BBQ and Marcus Live!, all the way down to Atlanta with Marcus Bar & Grille,” he said.

Someday, there may be potential to bring the Marcus Live! concept elsewhere, Samuelsson believes. “But we are so young and want to establish ourselves, become really great at it and then we can start thinking about what’s next,” he said. “We’re not there yet.”

What’s cooking?

That’s not all that Samuelsson has cooking in New Jersey. Over the past two years, he’s forged partnerships with some big-name brands based here.

He teamed up with Ritz, the iconic cracker owned by Mondelez Global LLC in East Hanover, in November 2022 on a multifaced holiday campaign. As part of the collaboration, he created a meal kit that contained everything needed to whip up some of his favorite seasonal recipes, including some that use Ritz crackers.

He’s also working with Parsippany-headquartered premium cookware brand All-Clad Metalcrafters. Founded in 1971, All-Clad produces professional quality bonded cookware for working chefs and avid home cooks. The Group SEB-owned brand has partnered with several celebrity chefs over the years to create products, including Emeril Lagasse’s “Emerilware” and Thomas Keller’s “TK” line.

As a chef ambassador, Samuelsson will contribute to product development by using the cookware to test and create recipes “that inspire people to try new cooking techniques and expand their cooking repertoire,” the company said.

Samuelsson said he enjoys such collaborations because it’s a way to connect with young, up-and-coming chefs, as well as encourage everyday Americans to get creative in the kitchen.

In July, he unveiled a 32-piece capsule collection with home furnishing retailer West Elm, a Brooklyn brand owned by Williams-Sonoma Inc.

Ranging from furniture to lighting, textiles, tableware and art, the collection blends his Ethiopian heritage, Swedish upbringing and New York City home base. It is available online at WestElm.com and select West Elm retail locations nationwide.

Of his home décor debut, Samuelsson said, “I’m thrilled to partner with West Elm to create such a personal collection — and my first set of home furnishings. Designed to help people come together at home, it celebrates the joy, artistry, and ingenuity of food shared with friends.”