Rehoboth's Blue Hen gets James Beard nomination

The Blue Hen, a new Rehoboth Beach restaurant that celebrates American cuisine, is a semifinalist for a James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. 

The Beard Foundation, considered the country's most prestigious culinary organization, Thursday morning announced its list of Restaurant and Chef Award semifinalists for the 28th annual James Beard Foundation Awards.

The Blue Hen, an eatery at 33 Wilmington Ave., just a block from the beach, opened 11 months ago. It's owned by Chris Bisaha and Joe Baker, who also run the 9-year-old Henlopen City Oyster House located on the same street as The Blue Hen.

"Oh, I think it's so great just to be mentioned. It's awesome," Bisaha said Thursday morning. He said he heard the news "after one of my buddies texted me."

"It's great for the general P.R.," Bisaha said.

Talula's Table, the gourmet store in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, that features one lone 12-seat table, was named a Beard semifinalist for the nation's most Outstanding Restaurant award.

It takes about a year to book a multicourse meal at the BYOB restaurant located at 102 W. State St. that's owned by Aimee Olexy.

Talula's Table was founded in 2007 by Olexy and her former husband, Wilmington restaurateur Bryan Sikora, who runs La Fia, Merchant Bar and Cocina Lolo. They named the business after their daughter. Olexy became the sole owner after the couple divorced.

"We are beyond thrilled to say Talula's Table has just been nominated as a James Beard semifinalist in the category, Outstanding Restaurant!" the eatery posted on its Facebook page Thursday.

The Beard Foundation selected a group of semifinalists in 21 categories from a list of more than 20,000 entries. Categories include chefs and dining destinations in 10 different regions across the U.S., as well as the best new restaurants, outstanding bar programs, bakers, and rising star chefs 30 or younger.

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A Restaurant and Chef Committee reviews the nominations to determine eligibility and regional representation. It then produces a nominating ballot that lists the semifinalists in each of the categories.

The list of semifinalists is sent to an independent volunteer panel of more than 600 judges from across the country, which includes regional restaurant critics, food and wine editors, culinary educators, and past James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Award winners. (Full disclosure: I am a regional judge.)

The panel then votes on specific award categories to determine the final five nominees in each category. The same judges then vote on these five nominees to select the winners, who will be announced at a May 7 gala held in Chicago. 

When reached by The News Journal after the Beard semifinalists were announced, Blue Hen executive chef Julia Robinson, who grew up in north Wilmington, said she was surprised by the nomination for the Rehoboth restaurant.

"This is awesome. I had no idea," she said.

Robinson has been a chef at The Blue Hen since the 70-seat eatery opened in March 2017.

The Brandywine High School graduate said she began her cooking career at the former 821 Restaurant in Wilmington when she was a senior at the University of Delaware.

Robinson later cooked for six years at Vivere, an upscale Italian restaurant in Chicago before deciding to move back East.

After a two-year stint at White Dog Cafe, she cooked at Brigantessa, a critically acclaimed Southern Italian restaurant on Philadelphia's East Passyunk Avenue.

At The Blue Hen, Robinson said she offers American cuisine such as fried chicken and shucked oysters on the half shell, but also has "some stuff that's more fun and adventurous." 

The restaurant is open year-round, but it is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the winter. It will reopen on a daily basis in May. Visit thebluehenrehoboth.com/

Beside some in-house celebrating, Bisaha said there are no changes planned for The Blue Hen. "We're just going to keep doing what we're doing."

Delawareans have been recognized by the Beard Foundation before.

Last year, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery co-founder Sam Calagione received a James Beard Award as the country's most Outstanding Wine, Beer, or Spirits Professional after being nominated for seven consecutive years.

In 2014, Matt Haley, who ran the SoDel Concepts Restaurant Group in Sussex County, received the Beard organization's Humanitarian of the Year Award for his philanthropy both in Delaware and Nepal. Haley died in a motorcycle accident a few months after receiving the award.

While several Delaware chefs have been semifinalist for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic region, including Hari Cameron of Rehoboth Beach, and Dwain Kalup, formerly of Wilmington's Domaine Hudson, the only other Delaware residents who have won Beard Awards are Hockessin residents Kathy Brennan, a food writer and cookbook author, and her husband Michael Steinberger, a wine writer. Both were honored in journalism categories.

No Delaware chefs were semifinalists this year in the Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic region category.

This year, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery plans to return to the “Oscars of the food world,” as the Beard Awards are called, and will be pouring their beers at the foundation’s Chef’s Night Out event and James Beard gala on May 6 and 7 in Chicago. 

The Best New Restaurant semifinalists include: The Anchorage, Greenville, S.C.; Annette, Aurora, Colo.; The Blue Hen, Rehoboth Beach; Brewery Bhavana, Raleigh, N.C.; The Charter Oak, St. Helena, Calif.; ChiKo, Washington, D.C.; Cote, New York; Del Mar, Washington, D.C.; Empellón Midtown, NYC; Felix Trattoria, Venice, Calif.; Grand Café, Minneapolis; HaiSous, Chicago; Henrietta Red, Nashville; Honey Road, Burlington, VT.; JuneBaby, Seattle; Kemuri Tatsu-ya, Austin; Kismet, Los Angeles; Lady of the House, Detroit; Les Sablons, Cambridge, Mass.; Maru Sushi, Honolulu; Maydan, Washington, D.C.; Mi Tocaya Antojería, Chicago; Osteria Radici, Allentown, N.J.; Saffron, New Orleans; Southern National, Mobile, Ala.; Vespertine, Culver City, Calif.; Vicia, St. Louis; and Xochi, Houston.

For the full list of semifinalists, visit jamesbeard.org/awards

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