Iconic restaurants breakup: Banks solo at Harry's Seafood

Xavier Teixido and Dave Banks, the savvy team behind some of New Castle County's most popular and iconic restaurants, have ended their almost 30-year culinary partnership.

Banks left his position as executive chef of Harry's Hospitality Group, which runs Harry's Savoy Grill in Brandywine Hundred and the Wilmington eateries Harry's Seafood Grill and Kid Shelleen's.

Banks said, as of Tuesday,  Harry's Seafood Grill at the Wilmington Riverfront and the Harry's Fish Market + Grill kiosk at the adjoining Wilmington Riverfront Market are no longer part of the hospitality group.

Banks is the sole proprietor of the seafood operations that he and Teixido have co-owned since 2003.

"It was very amicable, and we've had a great relationship of nearly 30 years," Banks said Friday morning about the split. The men have worked together since the late 1980s.

"I'm now the sole owner of the Seafood Grill," Banks said. "I'm not involved any longer with Savoy Grill, nor am I involved with Kid Shelleen's. It was a good, natural succession. Everything was really nice and smooth." 

Teixido, who is not retiring, said he will continue operating his flagship Harry's Savoy Grill on Naamans Road.

Teixido and business partner Kelly O'Hanlon also run Kid Shelleen's Charcoal House & Saloon tucked away in a Trolley Square neighborhood at 14th and Scott streets.

Talk of changes within the Harry's Hospitality Group began last spring, Teixido said. The partners talked about extending the restaurant's remaining 10-year lease on the Wilmington Riverfront property that's owned by the Riverfront Development Corporation. Banks also had financing opportunities that came his way.

"I just think the timing was good, and things aligned so well," said Teixido, who added, "I want to simplify my life and put some more money in the bank." 

Before opening Harry's Seafood Grill in 2003, Teixido and Banks formed Landsharks LLC for the restaurant project and signed a long-term lease with the Riverfront Development Corporation. Banks said he bought out Teixido shares of the LLC.

Teixido said he has "some apprehension" about leaving the restaurant. 

"I'm very happy, but it hasn't actually hit me yet. I think it's very good, but the wave hasn't washed over me yet."

Teixido joked: "I said, 'Dave, you're going to do great. And when you think about it, you got the new car.' " 

Banks said some "dynamic changes" will be taking place at the restaurant in the coming months. The seafood concept will remain. Gift cards will be honored until June 2018.

He has not ruled out changing the restaurant's name, but said, "I don't want to commit to that right now. It's an iconic restaurant. It's part of the Wilmington Riverfront. It's well established. There's no negativity in any of this." 

Teixido said he did not ask Banks to change the name.

"I said, 'Dave, it's your business and you're going to do what's best for your business.' "

Banks, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., first came to work for Teixido in about 1987 at the Columbus Inn in Wilmington.

At that time, Teixido was a partner in the 1492 Hospitality Group, a management organization that also operated Klondike Kate's in Newark and Kid Shelleen's in Wilmington.

When Teixido and Sezna opened Harry's Savoy Grill in Brandywine Hundred in 1988, Banks was the executive chef. 

By 1993, Teixido's nine-year association with Sezna ended. Teixido bought out his former partner's interest in Harry's Savoy Grill and Sezna kept the group's other holdings. 

Teixido said Banks left Harry's for about a year, but returned and became a major force in developing Harry's Hospitality Group, and helped open Harry’s Savoy Ballroom, Harry’s Seafood Grill, Harry’s Seafood Market and Kid Shelleen’s Charcoal House & Saloon.

Banks also became the face of Harry's and appeared regularly on The Comcast Network’s TV show “Chef’s Kitchen,” and participated in culinary events, competitions and charity events around the country. 

In 1999, Teixido was approached by the Riverfront Development Corp.'s then executive director Michael S. Purzycki, now Wilmington's mayor, about creating a restaurant on the Christina River.

Teixido turned Purzycki down.

The area then had little more than an arts center, the former Kahunaville complex, the Blue Rocks' Frawley Stadium and a shopping outlet center.

"I just couldn't see it," Teixido told The News Journal.

In 2000, the Riverfront Development Corp. created a $1.8 million building connected to the southern end of the indoor Riverfront Market and the restaurateur was hooked. 

Teixido and Banks formed Landsharks LLC for the Harry's Seafood Grill project and signed a long-term lease with the agency, which contributed about $800,000 for more building improvements. Landsharks spent an additional $1.5 million on building renovations.

The contemporary, 5,200 square-foot space, the third restaurant to open on then fledgling Wilmington Riverfront, was popular out of the gate when it began welcoming customers in 2003.

Harry's Seafood Grill seats 150 inside, about 100 outside. It also has an oyster and raw bar and 24-seat U-shaped bar.

Banks said he will be back in the kitchen full time. "No more bopping around restaurant-to-restaurant, and that's a good thing that will help every aspect of the operation." 

The restaurant employs about 70 people and assistant manager Jordan DeMaio has been promoted to the general management position. 

"He is really good. He's a great guy and he's well experienced," Banks said.

Banks departure from the Harry's Hospitality Group leaves the company's executive chef position open.

Teixido said he has several veteran chefs at his restaurants and recently hired pastry chef Michael Vandergeest who worked with famed Philadelphia chef/restaurateur Jean-Marie Lacroix. 

He has no plans right now to replace Banks, but said "we'll look at opportunities as they present themselves."  

"It's a good time to inject new energy into some of the old restaurants," Teixido said.

"I think Dave's a very, very talented chef with a great presence in the community. I wish him and the team [at Harry's Seafood Grill] nothing but continued success."

Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico