Kaisy’s Delights opens in Rehoboth

Much like its signature dish, Kaisy’s Delights is a mix of a lot of different elements thrown into one delicious package.

How else to explain an Austrian dish, served by a French family in Rehoboth Beach?

The dish is Kaiserschmarrn, a shredded pancake that is typically served with raisins, nuts, powdered sugar and marmalade on the side. The dish’s name comes from the German word “schmarrn,” a colloqualism for mishmash or a mess, and Kaiser, as the dish was first served to the Austrian emperor, or Kaiser, Francis Joseph I.

The family behind Kaisy’s Delights is the Langers, French immigrants from Nice, who discovered Kaiserschmarrn in Vermont. Patriarch Thierry Langer said when the family decided to move to the United States two years ago, they wanted a town close to the beach but that was also near major cities.

The family decided on Lewes, a decision that had a bit of serendipity. Langer said when he and his wife, Nathalie, were still living in Nice and trying to decide whether to move to America, they visited their daughter, who was going to school in Brighton, England, and were supposed to come back with her to Nice.

“We’re on the train and for whatever reason, we still don’t know, the train stopped in Lewes, Sussex County, United Kingdom,” Langer said.

When Langer asked his wife to pick out a nice beach town, she pointed to Lewes.

“I said, ‘Lewes, you don’t say!’” Langer said.

At the same time, the family also wanted to build a business for itself and hit upon the idea of serving Kaiserschmarrn after visiting an Austrian restaurant in Vermont. They found that there was nowhere else to find the dish and decided to make it their specialty.

Langer said the name Kaisy’s Delights came from a comment by his son, who suggested calling the restaurant Kaisy, as a way to give a traditionally European dish an American spin.

Langer said while Kaiserschmarrn is typically a dessert in Europe, Kaisy’s Delights will serve it primarily as a breakfast dish. He said the Kaisy’s version would come with sides of meat, sausages, bacon or fruits.

To make their breakfasts even better, Langer said Kaisy’s will serve La Colombe coffee. With origins in New York City, La Colombe has shops in Philadelphia, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Langer said Kaisy’s will also carry its own style of lemonade, ice coffees and hot cocoa.

He said the family is thrilled with its decision to come to Sussex County.

“The people are fabulous,” Langer said. “This is so different than what we are used to in France.”

Back in France, he said, people would be jealous, whereas in Rehoboth those working with the Langers have been very helpful and kind.

The first Kaisy’s opened May 21 at 70 Rehoboth Ave. and Langer said he plans to open a second Kaisy’s in Lewes in the near future.

“I’m incredibly excited,” he said. “We’ve been working on it for the last two years. It has been an incredible puzzle.”

Kaisy’s Delights, 70 Rehoboth Ave.,  is open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. For more information, call 302-212-5360 or visit Kaisy’s Delights on Facebook.