One-stop shopping for catering, café and gourmet to go
Springtime at the beach never fails to bring out the shorts, flip-flops, beach umbrellas … and new places to eat. And this year’s pre-summer rush is gaining momentum as we approach Memorial Day. Some old favorites are rebranding themselves, some of last year’s newbies are already gone, and some familiar faces are stepping up their game. Two of the most familiar faces around these parts, Gary and Lorraine Papp, have opened Palate, their new Rehoboth Beach café and carryout.
Gary and Lorraine come fully armed with a list of references that include Gov. Jack Markell, Sen. Tom Carper and Rep. John Carney. Before they moved to the beach in the early ‘90s, Gary and Lorraine were the proud owners of the Wycombe Inn, a Victorian country inn just outside of New Hope, Pa. They were expecting the arrival of their second child at the same time that hotelier and restaurant manager John Donato and psychotherapist Twain Gonzales were scouting around Lewes to open their first restaurant. As luck would have it, Donato had helped cater the Papp’s wedding, so in 1994, Gary, Twain, John and the eight months pregnant with a 2-year-old in tow Lorraine opened The Buttery in the New Devon Inn (now the Hotel Rodney). The rest of the story is Buttery history, with Donato and Gonzales plunking down pretty much everything they had to revamp the stately Lewes Victorian at Second and Savannah that’s been home to The Buttery ever since.
After almost 10 years helping to make The Buttery what it is today, Gary and Lorraine created their own brand, The Essential Chef. “We wanted to share our knowledge and experience on three levels,” Gary says. “The first was education.” Since February ’09, he has been teaching culinary arts to disabled and alternative learning students for Now We’re Cooking, a vocational program operated in Georgetown by First State Community Action Agency. Students develop personal skills, learn nutrition and get job training at the same time.
The second level of The Essential Chef is consulting. In 2008, Gary worked closely with Brick Hotel owners Ed and Lynn Lester to help open The Brick Restaurant and Tavern, assisting in the kitchen layout and design for the Georgetown landmark. Gary and Lorraine are most proud of the long list of loyal catering clients who make up the third element of The Essential Chef. And now comes phase four: Palate Café & Catering in the Shops at Seacoast (by the Safeway). This week’s grand opening drew a veritable who’s who of Rehoboth gastronomic glitterati including Kris and Tony Etze of Abracadinner, Jack and Denise Clemons from Cape Gazette, Catherine and Kevin Hester of Teller Wines … the list goes on and on.
In addition to showcasing Gary and Lorraine’s catering services, Palate is an artfully designed bistro-style eatery with a copper-top bar, tapestried walls and an extensive kitchen. Like their one-of-a-kind dishes, the menu at Palate steps out of the box with delicacies such as spicy sesame watercress salad, a craft Caesar with kale and locatelli cheese, bourbon & brown sugar-braised beef brisket, coriander cumin eggplant and chickpea stew (a vegan favorite), and Gary’s famous lump crab and Vermont cheddar hot dish. Of course, the slightly less adventurous (and you know who you are!) can get the grass-fed all-beef burger, Lorraine’s known-the-world-over chicken salad with granny smiths, or a cast-iron ribeye with a coffee stout glaze. Give them a call at 302-249-8489 or visit TastePalate.com to double-check their hours.
