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THE BUSINESS OF EATING

Blue Moon: More than just great food and fun times

May 21, 2016

My involvement with the new Culinary Scholarship Foundation (in association with Touch of Italy) has brought with it yet another perk: increased interaction with Meghan Gardner, one of the partners in Rehoboth’s iconic Blue Moon. Meghan is the executive director of the Delaware Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, and it was inevitable that that would bring us closer together in our efforts to increase the number of Delaware high schoolers who can afford to continue their education in professional culinary institutions.

During a delightful lunch earlier this week at Starboard Raw, Meghan mentioned offhandedly that the 35th anniversary of Blue Moon was approaching. Thirty-five years! As we hovered over a celebratory plate of Sussex County fried green tomatoes, Meg reminded me how it all started. Back Porch Café co-owner Victor Pisapia and New York caterer (and part-time Back Porch hostess) Joyce Felton sold Victor’s car and maxed out their credit cards in order to acquire a restored Victorian beach house on Baltimore Avenue. They thought that it might make a nice restaurant - and who knows, maybe even a quiet little bar. Their combined talents eventually gave birth to the Blue Moon.

In the spring of ‘02, a young Meghan Gardner took a job bussing tables. Soon she was serving, helping out in the office, and managing The Moon’s renowned wine list and dining room operations. In the meantime, a young cook, Lion Gardner, was honing his skills at Rob Stitt’s original Eden Café on Rehoboth Avenue (and Taste that replaced it), the new Eden on Baltimore Avenue, Fins and S.O.B.’s. He and Meghan married in 2004. As Joyce addressed personal issues, longtime Executive Chef Pete McMahon expressed his desire to move on, and in 2007 Joyce appointed Lion as executive chef. He was pleased. “We needed this change to bring the Blue Moon back to what it had always been.” McMahon is now the corporate executive chef for Highway One LP.

As luck would have it, two Blue Moon regulars named Tim Ragan and Randy Haney had just sold their business to move to Rehoboth full time. Felton was distracted from the day-to-day operations, and Meghan, Lion, Tim and Randy decided to break away and open their own concept. When they revealed the plan to their longtime boss, her rejoinder was unexpected: “Make me an offer.” The four partners scrambled to do what she and Pisapia had done so many years before: They liquidated everything, and in 2008 the deal closed in just 30 days. One thing (well, a whole lot of things) led to another, and the four partners will soon celebrate three-and-a-half decades of late-night cocktails, fine dining, and (there’s no denying it…) more than their share of intrigue.

A businessman in his own right, Ragan felt that the Blue Moon had potential as an entertainment venue. The days of the “meat market” bars were giving way to the internet, and he felt that a modern bar needed more than dark corners, video games and matchbooks for scribbling phone numbers. “I was a typical customer, and I knew what I wanted to see.” To that end, Randy called in his construction connections to make the bar more entertainment-friendly. If you haven’t been there since the new owners took over, you won’t recognize the place.

Felton and Pisapia’s legacy is in good hands as the Gardners, Ragan and Haney work onsite, every day, to keep The Moon cooking, serving, pouring, catering and entertaining - and that mirror ball spinning.

Meghan explains, “We each get to do what we like to do. We love being here and being here together.”

The Blue Moon, along with all the stories, is one of the shining stars not only in Rehoboth Beach history, but also in what has become a well-regarded culinary landscape here at the beach. Along with many other local restaurateurs, she continues to pay it forward - providing happy locals and vacationers with an informal, yet upscale dining experience while helping to pave the way for potential chefs, managers and owners to get the education and experience required to continue that legacy for at least another 35 years.


Bob Yesbek is a serial foodie and can be reached at byesbek@CapeGazette.com.

 

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