The chef has been named or the new dining concept at the Hotel Du Pont.
The Green Room closes at the end of the year to make way for its successor.
Chef-Partner will be Tyler Akin, a Wilmington native, and restaurateur behind Philadelphia concepts Stock and Res Ipsa Cafe.
Akin’s personal ties to the Hotel Du Pont and the Wilmington community, coupled with his professional career, made Akin an obvious and unparalleled choice for the role, an announcement from PM Hotels Group and Buccini/Pollin Group stated. The affiliated companies developed and operate the property.
“I am humbled to help re-imagine this legendary restaurant,” said Akin. “This team has so much respect for the history. We want to deliver a lively French restaurant to the community that will maintain the integrity of this institution.”
The restaurant will be open for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch seven days a week, every day.
The restaurant’s cuisine will carry influences from Provençe and North Africa served up in “an approachable atmosphere that is at once contemporary and nostalgic,” a release stated.
The release continued, “Chef will showcase innovative riffs on French classics, from steak frites with bone marrow salsa verde to bouillabaisse with scallops, octopus, monkfish and head-on shrimp with handmade Moroccan couscous, alongside ever-evolving seasonal offerings that showcase the vibrancy of Delaware foodways,”
Other offerings include swordfish à la Grecque, expertly roasted heritage chickens, gnocchi Parisienne with jumbo lump crab, and large-format options like the rougette de veau, a red wine-braised cut of veal shoulder glazed and served with roasted maitake mushrooms.
Classics from will include the famed almond macaroons, high tea service three days a week, and holiday and special occasion menus that bring back favorite dishes from over the years.
The restaurant will have 125 seats with an intimate 14 seat bar, a private dining room and seasonal outdoor patio seating on Rodney Square.
“Director of Design, Lance Saunders, sought to thoughtfully update the space to create a more convivial atmosphere while still upholding the room’s elegant bones,” the release stated.
“We look at our ownership of the Green Room as a public trust,” said Dave Pollin, co-founder and president of The Buccini/Pollin Group and chairman of PM Hotel Group. “Every decision is a direct result of extensive conversations with the community, frequent Green Room diners and our super talented culinary team. Our job is to allow the Green Room to continue evolving, as it always has, into something reflective of the community’s sophistication and today’s dining pref- erences. Everything we do starts with showing reverence to the celebrated history of the Green Room.”
The Buccini/Pollin Group partnered with Christina River Exchange, LLC, a procurement company based in Wilmington, Delaware that serves the hospitality industry.
