New in Rehoboth: Upscale steakhouse, wine bar, crab house

Rehoboth Beach's restaurant scene seems to change as often as the tides.

Newcomers now opened or coming soon include a clubby, fine-dining steakhouse, an Italian eatery in a well-known beach house, a wine bar/jazz club, a family-friendly taqueria, a modern coastal tavern on Baltimore Avenue and the final additions to the Dogfish Head restaurant complex on Rehoboth Avenue.

Speaking of Dogfish, changes also are coming this summer to the Milton brewery. Owners Sam and Mariah Calagione are building a new kitchen adjacent to the tasting room and the focus will be pizza, the perfect partner to beer.

The brewery's lunchbox-shaped food truck is still serving wood-grilled, beer-infused soup and sandwiches, though it has been moved to the parking lot area.

Few details were available about the new kitchen, but Dogfish Head is looking to launch it in July. 

In the meantime, here's what's happening in Rehoboth:

Houston-White Co.

315 Rehoboth Ave.; 302-227-8511; www.houstonwhite.com

First things first: Please pronounce Houston the Delaware way. It's HOUSE-ton, not like the Texas town, HEWS-ton.

The new Houston-White Co. steakhouse, which very quietly opened last month, takes over the former Bramble & Brine restaurant. Owner Megan Kee also runs La Fable, a charming traditional French eatery at 26 Baltimore Ave. that began service in 2016 in the old Mixx space.

If you haven't been to La Fable, the spring menu featured such classics as escargot ($13), trout meunière amandine ($28), coquilles St. Jacques ($33), moules frites ($24) and boeuf bourguignon ($29). 

The name of Kee's new restaurant comes from Delaware's history. Houston-White Co. was a Millsboro lumber-milling business operated by Kee's family, the Whites.

At one time, one of the company's owners also was U.S. Representative Henry A. Houston, a Sussex County Democratic who served one term in Congress, from 1903 until 1905, during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt. Houston-White Co. lumber operated from about the 1890s before closing in the 1970s.

Kee has thoroughly renovated the former South Pacific florist shop — across from the Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats — into the upscale, masculine, clubby steakhouse with wooden floors and leather banquettes.

The dinner-only restaurant, with seating for about 55 people as well as eight seats at the bar, will be open around 6 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays at the beginning of the season and by 4:30 p.m. in mid June. It's closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

The limited menu will expand as the summer season progresses, Kee said. Right now, it includes appetizers like bacon cheddar toast ($13), wedge salads with Stilton blue cheese, cherry tomatoes and bacon, clams casino ($12) and jumbo shrimp cocktail ($17). 

Dinners are à la carte. An 8-ounce, USDA Prime barrel cut ribeye is $35, while a 14-ounce New York strip is $45. Want to really splurge? Go for the 48-ounce, USDA prime porterhouse for $95.

Not into beef? There's a 10-ounce cold water lobster tail for $37, grilled skinned salmon for $28, and cast-iron fired chicken with sweet and spicy baked beans and corn bread for $27.

The $4 toppers for the steaks include bone marrow demi glace, whipped horseradish, green peppercorn, béarnaise, Stilton butter and braised bacon. The $9 side dishes available are traditional steakhouse accompaniments: creamed spinach, baked potato, onion rings and asparagus. 

Kee said she'll have other dishes, most likely veal and lamb chops, escargots, a seafood tower, whole lobster and one or two fish options. She's planning to host live jazz musicians on Saturday nights in June. The bar will become a lounge area from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Dinner walk-ins are welcome, although reservations are recommended.

El Jefe Gordo

251 Rehoboth Ave. Visit the Fins Hospitality Group Facebook page.

Fins Hospitality Group, the restaurant organization behind two Rehoboth FINS locations, as well as one in Bethany Beach and Berlin, Maryland, and the new Big Oyster Brewery in Lewes, has acquired the former Beachside Bar and Grill. 

The plan is to create an affordable family-friendly taqueria in the space that's on the resort town's main thoroughfare, says Mike Anderson, director of Sales and Distribution for Fins Hospitality Group.

Anderson says the menu will include tacos, quesadillas, burritos, Mexican-style beers and handcrafted tequila cocktails made with freshly squeezed juices.

It's a new concept for the seafood centric restaurant group and marks their seventh location. Fins also runs Claws Seafood House on Rehoboth Avenue.

"It will be completely different" than the other FINS eateries, Anderson says. 

Construction is still taking place and last weekend, old furniture was piled on the outside seating area. Anderson says he expects El Jefe Gordo to open about the middle of June.

The former Beachside Grill had a rocky history. David M. Dietz, owner of Greenville's BBC Tavern and Grill, partnered with former Sussex County chef Jay Caputo to open the restaurant in July 2015.  

They had worked for more than a year to create the 114-seat casual eatery, formerly a shoe store specializing in running. Previously the site had been a gas station up until the 1960s.

But Beachside never seemed to find its footing and during the first year, food was often uneven, at best. Caputo sold his interest in 2016 to concentrate on Pilot Town Fish Co., a Milton restaurant off Del. 1 that closed in 2017.

In other Fins news, the group has reopened its flagship restaurant on Rehoboth Avenue after the eatery was remodeled over the winter. Last September, it added the Big Oyster Brewery/restaurant on Kings Highway in Lewes, and has plans to open a seafood market also in Lewes.  

The Pines

56 Baltimore Ave., 302-864-7778; www.thepinesrb.com

The old Hobos, which bowed out in 2016, is now being transformed into The Pines, a "modern coastal tavern" with a menu that reflects both the land and the sea.

Renovations were still ongoing at the Baltimore Avenue site this past weekend.

Owner/partners are Bob Suppies, a Maine native and Rehoboth resident since 1997 who has had a career in retail, and Tyler Townsend, a former baseball player who was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 2009.

After an injury ended his baseball career, Townsend, a graduate of Florida International University with a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management, switched to the restaurant industry.

Suppies says the building, dating back to least the 1970s, has been gutted inside and out and the stairs have been moved. He's anticipating a July opening, possibly by the second week of the month.

The restaurant will be on the first floor. The second floor will have a lounge, live music and offer small plates. The building also will offer 750 square feet of outdoor dining space.

Suppies says the building will have a modern flair, but also play homage to old Rehoboth. And that's where The Pines name comes from.

He says the partners were researching the town's history and found an old postcard that read "where the pine forest meets the ocean." Perfect. 

More announcements are coming soon. Go to The Pines Facebook page.

Cuvée Ray Wine Bar & Restaurant

236 Rehoboth Ave.; www.cuveeray.com

Beer isn't necessarily banished, but wine is much more welcomed at Cuvée Ray, a coming-soon upscale wine bar that's moving into the old Pig + Fish spot.

The eatery plans to celebrate wines from around the world as well as offering "great music, and inspired food." Owner Ray Kurz, in posts on his Facebook page, says he'll be serving the town's largest selection of wines by the glass. Head chef is Joe Churchman, a chef/owner of the former Bramble & Brine who has worked at several beach establishments.

Kurz, a native of Queens, New York, is a retired Washington, D.C., attorney, and he and his wife, Deb, have had a longtime second home in Bethany Beach. 

The couple started taking wine courses in 1984 at American University and have traveled to wine regions in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Kurz developed a wine/music experience he calls Vintunes, where participants match wines with musical selections. 

He and his wife are taking over the spot that was once home to Sydney Arzt's former restaurant and jazz club, Sydney’s Side Street. Arzt will be booking bands for the Kurzs at the new restaurant.

Dogfish Head restaurant complex

316-320 Rehoboth Ave., 302-226-2739; www.dogfish.com

Last summer was all about the new brewpub. This summer is all about the new courtyard.

Creating an open courtyard with outdoor seating and a new, freestanding glass-enclosed merchandise building is the final construction phase of the multimillion dollar facelift of the Dogfish Head Rehoboth restaurant complex on Rehoboth Avenue.

The courtyard, almost completed, connects Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats and its sister seafood house, Chesapeake & Maine. 

The project has been ongoing in stages for several years, starting with Dogfish Head's purchase of the former Finbar Pub & Grill in December 2013. 

In 2015, Dogfish owners Sam and Mariah Calagione renovated Finbar and opened Chesapeake & Maine, which celebrates the roots of Delaware native Mariah, and Sam, who spent summers in Dogfish Head, Maine. The couple now lives in Lewes.

They also received city approval to tear down the original brewpub, founded in 1995, to create a new building with an outdoor courtyard.

The new, much-more-modern 6,300-square-foot Dogfish Brewings & Eats, located in the former parking lot of the old brewpub, opened last year. The old restaurant, most recently used to sell merchandise, was razed in November 2017. 

Other changes over the past year include the installation of a new brewing system. The system features a fully manual 5 barrel-brewhouse where brewpub exclusives can be created and Dogfish can collaborate with other brewers. Also a new 50-gallon still was recently installed at the downtown Rehoboth location. Lemon Pepper Vodka will be the celebratory opening spirit.

Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant

19815 Coastal Highway (Del. 1); 302-260-8000; www.ironhillbrewery.com

The grand opening of the Wilmington-based chain's Rehoboth eatery is set for Thursday, May 24. It will mark the company's 14th location on the East Coast and its third in Delaware.

Owners Kevin Finn, Mark Edelson and Kevin Davies have built the new location on Del. 1, just south of Tanger Outlets. The site, known as Coastal Station, had once been the home of the Tomato Sunshine Garden Center & Farm Market. 

Iron Hill, founded in Newark in 1996, is well-known for its hand-crafted beers and food that pairs well with them. Its other Delaware restaurant is at the Wilmington Riverfront.

Finn told The News Journal he had been looking for an opportunity to build a restaurant and brewery in Sussex County for some time.

"My father has been pestering me for the last 10 years," he said. Finn's father is a longtime Lewes resident.

"We thought Rehoboth was the best spot for us to be in. There's so much stuff going on there," Finn said. 

The Rehoboth location will be open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 1 a.m., with happy hour from 4 p,m. to 6 p.m.

Senior head brewer Justin Sproul is in charge of beer production there. He started in the kitchen of the first Iron Hill location in 1996. 

Azzurro Italian Oven + Bar

 210 Second St., 302-212-2409; www.azzurrorehoboth.com 

The rambling beach house space has a long restaurant history. It was perhaps best known as Chez La Mer, when owner Nancy Wolfe opened the French country restaurant in 1980.

The eatery, with Provençal cuisine, and rooftop seating, had a run of almost 30 years before former Delaware restaurateur/chef Jay Caputo purchased the site in 2007. The restaurant had two different concepts, then it was sold to SoDel Concepts in 2014 for a second Papa Grande's location. The flagship eatery is in Fenwick Island. 

The restaurant has changed hands again. Chef/owner Francesco Agostino reopened the site on May 9 featuring classic, "unpretentious" Italian cuisine.

The menu includes Caprese salad ($12), tortellini in brodo ($6), five different kinds of pizza and two risottos including one with zucchini and shrimp ($23).

The pasta is made in house with offerings that vary from lasagna Emiliana ($19) made with oxtail and Chianti ragu to ravioli primavera ($20). There's a "Tuscany" cioppino ($30) and baked, salt-encrusted whole bronzino ($30). Dessert, also made in house, includes tiramisu ($9) along with Cantucci e Vin Santo ($8), or crunchy almond cookies served with a Tuscan dessert wine, Vin Santo, that tastes somewhat like port.

Hours are 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; and 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.  

WHAT ELSE:

Coming to downtown Rehoboth — but not until after Labor Day — will be Steamin' Blues, a new crabhouse from the owners of The Surfing Crab Restaurant & Bar at 16723 Coastal Highway (Del. 1) in Lewes.

General manager Chad Wheatley says owner Donald Vechery is taking over the former Jakes Seafood Restaurant site in Rehoboth at the corner of First Street and Baltimore Avenue. Renovations will be ongoing this summer.

It will be a second location for The Surfing Crab. The Lewes restaurant is now open from 3 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The Vineyard Wine Bar and Bistro at 28 Wilmington Ave. (formerly Espuma) has been closed for repairs since an October 2017 freezer fire in the kitchen. Damage was so extensive, according to a post on the restaurant's Facebook page, that the HVAC duct work and hardwood flooring has to replaced, along with kitchen walls and the ceiling. The restaurant also needs new electrical work and light fixtures.

"I feel like we're building the place all over again," owner Joseph Lurtch wrote on the restaurant's Facebook page.

The website says the wine bar will be "back soon." A phone call to the restaurant was not immediately returned.

MORE BEACH EATS

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