Downtown Wilmington food hall opening April 18
The highly anticipated downtown Wilmington food hall known as DECO will open April 18 in the same building that houses the Hotel du Pont, The News Journal has learned.
The food hall's eight chef-led restaurant stalls in Wilmington's historic DuPont Building at 10th and Orange streets are still unknown.
"We aren’t ready to announce the restaurants, but will in the coming weeks," said Clare Pelino, a spokeswoman for the 13,000-square-foot, $3.5 million project.
One of the DECO kitchens will be known as The Pop-Up. It will serve as a rotating test kitchen, available to chefs and restaurateurs, in two-week and one-month blocks.
The food hall will be managed by Imian Partners, operators of the Wilmington Riverfront’s Constitution Yards Beer Garden.
DECO, an abbreviated version of “Delaware Collective," is a collaboration between Wilmington's Buccini/Pollin Group and Seawall Development, the company that developed Baltimore’s food hall, R. House.
The ground floor of the DuPont Building that will house the food hall has been undergoing renovations for the past year. The project has been delayed for several months. It originally was supposed to open by the end of 2018.
The Buccini/Pollin Group said the project will bring more than 100 new jobs to the city.
DECO's opening will span two days, beginning at 5 p.m. April 18 and continuing with events on April 19 from 7 a.m. until midnight.
The food hall will feature eight restaurant concepts, an atrium bar serving beer, wine and craft cocktails and an expansive event space that will begin accepting reservations for private parties and gatherings in the coming weeks.
A grand opening party will spread throughout DECO’s indoor and outdoor drinking and dining spaces and will include live music, entertainment and a photo booth. It also will feature murals from local artists.
DECO (pronounce it deck-oh) will operate daily for breakfast, lunch, dinner and bar service. It will be open weekdays starting at 7 a.m. and closing at 11 p.m. Extended hours are expected on weekends.
Currently, DECO is looking for local artists to paint custom murals on restroom walls. Artists can submit credentials and ideas to hello@decowilmington.com, and five winners will be chosen.
Each winner will receive a $750 commission to transform the walls of a restroom stall into a piece of art.
Chefs interested in cooking and trying out recipes and techniques for the food hall's Pop-Up test kitchen should contact DECO at hello@decowilmington.com.
Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).
