From pancakes to paella - Delaware family dishes up joyful Mediterranean fare
How many of you remember Libby’s restaurant in Fenwick Island? It was a big white building covered in gigantic polka dots, and it was all about noisy, beachy families (with about a million kids) scarfing down everything from pancakes to chicken to burgers. Libby’s was part of the resort “food hall” trend of the ‘60s and ‘70s that was so prevalent in Ocean City, Md.
The restaurant was owned and operated by the late Loretta M. Steele, and the concept became so popular that she opened another in Rehoboth Beach where Route 24 and Coastal Highway intersect (now occupied by Crabby Dick’s). Her family joined her in the business, and it wasn’t long before Libby’s Rehoboth morphed into the Lamp Post restaurant. After honing their skills from the ground up, her two sons Rich and Mark decided to go it on their own, opening Café Azafrán in Lewes with a Mediterranean-flavored menu that reflected Mark’s travels abroad. The tiny restaurant looked like a coffee shop, but quickly became one of the preferred breakfast and lunch spots in Lewes.
Things did so well there on Market Street that in 2010 they opened a second Café Azafrán on the ocean block of Rehoboth’s Baltimore Avenue. One thing led to another (as it so often does with family businesses) and in 2013 the Lewes location was closed. Owner Rich Steele now concentrates his efforts on the culinary-savvy market in Rehoboth Beach. His son Ryan graduated culinary school and took over the kitchen, and in spite of the year-round competition here in the Nation’s Summer Capital, Café Azafrán has carved out a secure and delicious niche for itself; standing toe-to-toe against some of the finest eateries in town.
Paella night, a longtime Café Azafrán tradition, has caught on in Rehoboth Beach. Several restaurants offer paella, but Rich Steele is the only boss who brings out the big guns: Flames from a circular gas burner power a three-foot-diameter skillet bubbling with onions, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, green beans, mushrooms, Arroz Calasparra imported from Spain, over $50 worth of Spanish saffron along with generous portions of snow-white calamari, spicy chorizo, scallops, shrimp, chicken, clams and Indian River mussels. A combination of top-secret spices is stirred into a dark and savory house-made stock, and that’s what separates Rich Steele’s paella from all the rest. Azafrán translates to saffron in English, so it’s only right that he use the best and most expensive.
The event is part theater and part communal affair. Paella lovers (they know to make reservations!) populate the outside porch around 6:30 on Sundays and Wednesdays as Rich stands center-stage, drizzling olive oil into the flying saucer-like vessel. As it begins to shimmer in the waning light, he initiates the ritual of adding the ingredients - in a very specific order. Hungry diners take full advantage of the colorful photo-ops.
Rich Steele performs this ceremony twice a week in season, and has been doing so for over five years. No sense doing the math - it all comes down to a whole lot of delicious paella and thousands of happy diners. On Thursdays, don't miss singing bartender Holly Lane. (Be sure to order a very complicated drink while Holly is singing and mixing.)
Café Azafrán is open seven days at 8 a.m. for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They close between 3 and 5 in order to slice, dice, chop, bubble and brew the special ingredients that make up their more complex dishes. My favorites? The long, thin haricots verts (with blue cheese, hazelnuts and butter!) and the veal sausage simmered forever with plump white beans. You can make an entire meal out of the tapas menu, and on Tapas Tuesdays they make that particularly easy with special prices on the generously portioned small plates.
By the way, I’d like to thank you all for the letters, emails, texts and Facebook postings about my recent article featuring Rustic Acres/Rehoboth Dairy. Owner Earl Warren is a popular guy! However, I am sad to report that co-owner Mary Ann Warren, Earl’s wife, passed away last week after a battle with cancer. Our sincerest sympathies go out to Earl and his entire family.
Bob Yesbek is a serial foodie and can be reached at byesbek@CapeGazette.com.
