Dean & DeLuca cools it

Dean & Deluca, the 40-year-old upscale grocer favored by Manhattan’s monied set, is hitting the brakes on its expansion plans, The Post has learned.

A hypercompetitive retail food sector and recently signed expensive leases led the once-hot nameplate to pull back, sources said.

Dean & DeLuca will back out of leases signed for the former Spice Market eatery in the Meatpacking District and at the Trump Organization’s 40 Wall St. It also will not go through with a proposed store at 420 Lexington Ave. in the Graybar Building.

The grocer, which was bought in 2014 by the Thailand-based Pace Development Corp., had not yet moved into those spaces.

A fourth proposed store, in suburban Dallas, will also not open.

“The company is investing in the strategic reassessment required to solve legacy issues and the current challenges that are facing brands in the retail sector,” Pace said in a statement.

The private equity firm said it would not expand Dean & DeLuca’s footprint and is instead focusing on its existing stores — 10 in the US — and its scores of licensed properties abroad.

“They signed leases probably at the top of the market at aggressive rents,” said Jeffrey Roseman, executive vice president of Newmark Knight Frank Retail. “At one time, Dean & DeLuca was one of the premier specialty food operators in the city, but over the years, they have lost their niche and became just another coffee and sandwich place.”

To be sure, the chain is still the go-to grocer for caviar, smoked salmon and unusual condiments — like apricot mustard and cilantro pineapple salsa, as well as gift baskets.

On its Web site, the chain is offering a wholehog package for $1,785, a 4.4-ounce jar of Siberian caviar for $350 and six bison burgers for $45.