New Wilmington eateries coming from Big Fish Group

Harvest House is the name of a new coffeehouse/healthy foods eatery the Big Fish Restaurant Group plans to open in mid-May in downtown Wilmington.

The Rehoboth Beach-based group is renovating the 1204 Washington St. site that had been known as the Presto! Coffee Bar.

The eatery adjoins the Washington Street Ale House, a 21-year-old restaurant at Washington and Torbert streets that the group purchased last year. 

"Presto! is no longer. We are rebranding it completely," said Angela K. Wagner, creative developer and consultant for Big Fish Restaurant Group.

In the next few months, the restaurant group also plans to open a beer garden type establishment on Torbert Street, Wagner said. The site is behind Mikimotos Asian Grill and Sushi Bar, another Washington Street eatery the group owns.

"It will be kind of like a local hangout," Wagner said.

Big Fish Restaurant Group, which opened its flagship Big Fish Grill on Rehoboth's Del. 1 in April 1997, operates the Big Fish chain and several other Delaware restaurants including Trolley Square Oyster House in Wilmington's Trolley Square, and the Summer House and Salt Air, both in Rehoboth.

It bought the Washington Street Ale House, Presto!, Mikimotos Asian Grill and Sushi Bar, and Rehoboth's Stingray Sushi Bar + Asian Latino Grill from the estate of the late restaurateur Darius Mansoory in June 2017. The amount was not disclosed.

The old Presto! coffeehouse and gourmet take-out at the corner of 12th and Washington streets operated from 2006 to 2014. It has been closed for four years.

Mansoory told The News Journal he had planned to reopen the site in 2017. But before he had the chance, the 52-year-old died in December 2016 of cardiac arrest while on vacation in Cuba. 

Big Fish purchased Mansoory's restaurants and then spent months sprucing up the properties and tweaking the menus. 

The group has recently changed the name of the Maraschino Room rental hall that's on the second floor of the Washington Street Ale House. Now called The Torbert Room, the space can accommodate up to 100 people.

Big Fish co-founder Eric Sugrue said he initially looked at some well-known Delaware coffee businesses to take over the Presto! site, but then "decided to do it ourselves."

This will be the first time the restaurant group is opening a coffeehouse/healthy foods eatery.

Brown paper now covers the windows of the old Presto!.

Wagner said construction at the gutted site will take about four to six weeks. "We are giving it a face-lift," she said.

Harvest House will focus on healthy food trends like acai bowls and smoothies and will feature grab-and-go breakfast and lunch sandwiches.

"We are really taking on this health-conscious fast concept," Wagner said. 

Customers will order at the counter. The 20-seat eatery also will have a small dining area with TVs.

"If you want to sit and do work, you can plug in. We'll have plenty of outlets to plug in [computers]," Wagner said. 

The Harvest House menu will be completely different than both the Ale House and Mikimotos. 

Offerings will include sweet potato hash bowls made with rosemary and free-range, organic eggs, as well as freshly squeezed juices from Wilmington Green Box and build-your-own breakfast sandwiches.

Harvest House will be managed by Brittany Downes, who has a strong background in the coffee industry, Wagner said.

It plans to serve fair trade, organic, single origin coffees roasted by Valerio, a small company based in Aubudon, Pennsylvania.

Looking to create a rustic feel, tables and other woodwork in the cafe will be made by Wilmington's Challenge program which offers young people the opportunity to learn construction skills.

Baked goods, including muffins, scones, rolls, gluten-free and vegan options will be coming from Philadelphia bakeries.  

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