Off-season restaurant opening fears are a thing of the past

Last week I had the pleasure of being interviewed by WBOC’s delightful Lindsay Tuchman regarding the relatively new phenomenon of resort restaurant grand openings during what we affectionately refer to as the off-season. Anybody who braved downtown Rehoboth Beach last weekend knows that whatever remains of the off-season is getting smaller and smaller.

There are a lot of reasons for that. Rehoboth Beach Main Street Inc. should be applauded for its tireless efforts to promote downtown Rehoboth in the spring and fall with the Chocolate Festival, Get Down in Town, the Cocoa Crawl and the Christmas Tree Lighting singalong (just to name a few). And the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Sea Witch extravaganza is a massive undertaking that fills downtown in late October as if it were a sunny July weekend. Last year I had the pleasure of judging a wing contest mounted by ice cream/hot sauce maven Chip Hearn. I had to park at Silver Lake - and I live here, for goodness’ sakes!

The jazz festival is another people magnet that fills shops and restaurants in Lewes, Rehoboth and Dewey for five days. And don’t forget the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival that keeps November busy here in the Cape Region.

Back in the late ‘60s when I was bangin’ out rock ‘n’ roll seven nights a week at 22nd Street and the boardwalk in Ocean City, lavish Thanksgiving and Christmas buffets and sold-out dinner reservations in the Rehoboth Beach area were unheard of. In fact, you were lucky if you could find anybody open, with the possible exception of Grotto Pizza, the Robin Hood and maybe Pappy’s Pizza at the corner of Rehoboth Avenue and North First Street.

WBOC’s crew set up the interview at Bryan Hecksher’s Auto Gallery lot in Lewes. As Bryan’s boys put the finishing touches on my recent purchase (and as passing cars on Savannah Road, including a playful ambulance crew, honked their horns while we were recording), Lindsay put me on the spot as to why off-season restaurant debuts are no longer the kiss of death.

The most obvious answer is that there are simply a lot more full-timers here at the beach. Just because it’s winter doesn’t mean that we stop eating (though some of us should…). Another reason is that some of our Cape Region restaurants have moved into both the local and national spotlights. The combined efforts of Cape Gazette’s and Beach Paper’s Village Soup websites, RehobothFoodie.com, New York’s James Beard Foundation, the Delaware Restaurant Association, the Rehoboth In My Pocket travel app, along with local magazines like Coastal Style and food-oriented features on local radio and TV have all served to rebrand our tiny town into a recognized culinary destination.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the entrepreneurial efforts and talents of our local restaurant owners who dig deep into their pockets to bring even more dining variety to the beach. One of the first (and wildly successful) fall openings was Joey Churchman’s Bramble and Brine. A couple of years ago he opened his doors in October to record crowds, and a seat there is still the holy grail. Meg Hudson’s Lula Brazil is another example, as patrons sip and dance while the wind blusters there in the third block of Rehoboth Avenue.

In the last couple of months or so, you couldn’t throw a rock around here without hitting a grand opening: Hari and Orion Cameron’s Grandpa(MAC.). Matt DiSabatino and Ian Crandall’s Half Full and the resulting new Patty’s Carryout, both in Lewes. Brenton Wallace’s Crust & Craft in Midway. Josh Grapski, Rich Garrahan and partners’ Crooked Hammock Brewpub (traffic was lined up on Kings Highway in Lewes last weekend to get in there). The Forgotten Mile Ale House by upstate brothers and pub experts Steve and Mike Lucey. Fins’ new Big Oyster Brewery at Fins Ale House & Raw Bar on the highway. And even as we speak, Sam Calagione is refurbishing the old Finbar’s to be part of his new Dogfish Head complex on Rehoboth Avenue. In fact, just last Monday Warren Rosenfeld signed a lease to locate his second Rosenfeld’s Jewish Deli in the new Schell office building immediately south of the Wawa on northbound Route 1 at Route 24. But don’t grab your half-dones, cream cheese and Ba-Tampte deli mustard just yet - the building still has to be built.

And there’s a lot more to come! So stay tuned.

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