SoDel Concepts will add a second location for its Bluecoast restaurant brand in the Rehoboth Beach area.
Scott Kammerer, president of the coastal Delaware restaurant group, confirmed that the location will be in the new Rehoboth Gateway shopping center, near the site of the new Fresh Market. The center is off Route 1 and near Rehoboth Avenue.
Kammerer noted that Bluecoat was SoDel’s first restaurant. The new Bluecoat will be the 10th in Coastal Sussex for SoDel.
“Since it opened in Bethany Beach more than 10 years ago, Bluecoast has become a nationally recognized, award-winning restaurant,” Kammerer said. “Now our customers in the Lewes and Rehoboth Beach area don’t need to cross the Indian River Inlet Bridge to experience their favorite restaurant.”
The restaurant is slated to open in spring 2017.
Bluecoast is the third SoDel concept to expand from the Bethany-Fenwick area.
First, the Papa Grande’s Latin restaurant in Fenwick added a location in Rehoboth. That was followed by Matt’s Fish Camp in Bethany Beach adding another location in Lewes and now Blue Coast.
SoDel also operates Catch 54, a waterfront restaurant in Fenwick, Northeast Seafood Kitchen in Ocean View, Fish On, near Lewes; and Lupo Italian Kitchen in Rehoboth Beach.
The restaurant group, started by the late Matt Haley, also has a catering operation, restaurant consulting company, food truck, spice and a craft soda line.
Bluecoast has set the bar high for dining along the coast. “Bluecoast epitomizes what we do best: create and serve beautiful, simple coastal cuisine that allows our chefs’ talents to shine,” agreed chef Doug Ruley, vice president of SoDel Concepts.
Ruley, who has been invited to cook at the James Beard House in New York three times, will head up the kitchen with Jason Dietterick, who started his career with SoDel in 2001, and Scott Visselli, who was named “Sussex County Chef of the Year” by Coastal Style Magazine.
The 250-seat, 4,500-square-foot restaurant is being built from the ground up. An outdoor area will feature firepits, corn hole games and an acoustic stage. The restaurant will employ more than 100.
Like its Bethany counterpart, the menu will highlight oysters and seafood, as well as a selection of steaks and other items. The wine list, created by wine director Mike Zygmonski, will be on par with the Bethany Beach location.
SoDel Concepts was founded by chef-restaurateur Matt Haley, the recipient of the James Beard Foundation’s 2014 Humanitarian of the Year Award. After Haley passed away in August 2014, Scott Kammerer became president and CEO of SoDel Concepts. The SoDel Cares Fund, a nonprofit, helps children and people in Delaware and across the globe. Many of the fund’s efforts address hunger and sustainability.
