Breakfast Guru opens in Rehoboth

A week into being open, Breakfast Guru co-owner Dennis Kanzayi and general manager Luis Contreras said they are excited to bring their vision of breakfast dining to Rehoboth Beach.

“We want to bring fine dining to breakfast,” said Kanzayi.

Kanzayi said he and his wife and co-owner Ani wanted to open a breakfast place after years of bringing friends together on Sunday morning and enjoying big breakfasts.

“We love to share our food, and we were having fun doing it, so we decided to give it a shot,” said Kanzayi.

Kanzayi and Contreras have spent the majority of their working lives in restaurants. Kanzayi, a native of Zimbabwe who got a degree in engineering from Witchita State, worked his way from dishwasher at a small diner in Kansas during college to managing a McDonald’s in Bethany Beach after moving to the East Coast years ago. Contreras, born in Bolivia, has a similar story. He cut his teeth at a diner in Virginia as an overnight employee, where he did a little bit of everything – hosting, waiting tables, cooking and cleaning. Then he moved to Washington, D.C., where he became a manager and was encouraged to stay in the hospitality industry.

“Managing a restaurant can be difficult,” he said. “The employees spend a lot of time here, so we want to take care of them. We want to make it like a second family.”

The two men met while working together in Bethany, and when Kanzayi and Ani decided they wanted to open a restaurant, they asked Contreras if he wanted to come aboard. Now, the Kanzayis focus on the menu and Contreras focuses on the front end of the kitchen.

“It’s been epic. It’s new and exciting,” said Contreras. “It’s a mixture of every emotion.”

Located on Wilmington Avenue, in the space most recently home to Ambrosia, the exterior of the restaurant is the same mustard yellow it has been, and the mural on the interior wall is intact, but the restaurant features all new floors, ceilings and tables.

The menu features traditional breakfast offerings, but it also steps everything up a notch. There’s a breakfast sandwich with slow-roasted brisket. There’s a graham cracker-crusted French toast stuffed with marshmallow and chocolate. There’s a crepe with banana, Nutella and cream cheese. There are breakfast burritos and breakfast tacos. Kanzayi credits Ani with being the mastermind behind a lot of the menu items.

Customers have been excited because the menu offers unique items, said Contreras.

Kanzayi said the next step is to get a liquor license, so, he said with a wry smile, customers can enjoy their Irish coffees before hitting the beach.

Kanzayi and Contreras have big dreams for Breakfast Guru. There are already plans for a second one in Bethany Beach, and they said they want to open more.

“I want this to be a chain,” Kanzayi said.

For now, Breakfast Guru is open seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday through Sunday.

Kanzayi said after Memorial Day the restaurant will be open until 4 p.m. every day.

For more information on Breakfast Guru, 19 Wilmington Ave., call 302-567-2829 or go to the website at www.breakfast-guru.com.