The Garden by Bardea Group outdoor terrace reopens for the season on Thursday, May 2.
Located between Bardea Food & Drink and Bardea Steak, Bardea Garden will feature dining and live music, with a mix of lounge and traditional seating.
The space features awnings for hot weather and a fire pit for cooler nights.
Bardea Garden is the fifth concept from the James Beard-nominated Bardea Restaurant Group. Bardea also operates a pizzeria and taqueria in the DE.CO Food Hall at the Hotel duPont
Chef Antimo DiMeo’s menu includes pizzas, pasta, seafood, and a few large plates, including a burger that is not found at Bardea’s other restaurants.
Bluebird opens
The Bluebird, a breakfast and lunch spot at 500 Delaware, the headquarters of WSFS Bank, is also opening downtown.
It marks a return to downtown for Dan Butler, the long-time owner/chef of Piccolina Toscana in the city’s Trolley Square neighborhood. The Bluebird is owned by Butler and Brian Walsh.
Butler also owns Brandywine Prime, a steakhouse in the Chadds Ford, PA area, and was a former owner of Deep Blue, which later became Tonic, a seafood and steak spot in downtown Wilmington.
Lhulier’s next move?
Early last month, Chef Robert Lhulier exited Snuff Mill Restaurant, Butchery & Wine Bar.
“I am forever grateful to my partner Bill Irvin and the entire Snuff Mill team,” Lhulier stated.
Lhulier, Irvin, David, and Joanne Govatos opened the Brandywine Hundred restaurant in 2021. The small steak-focused establishment features farm-to-table offerings. Even now, getting weekend reservations on short notice isn’t easy.
Lhulier said he wants the freedom to pursue his own project.
Before joining Snuff Mill, he ran a catering and pop-up dinner business.
His career included the Green Room in the Hotel du Pont and Piccolina Toscana and Deep Blue Bar & Grill in downtown Wilmington. Other stops included Harry’s Savoy Grill, University & Whist Club, and Union City Grille, and early on, owned The Chef’s Table in old New Castle.
The chef is actively looking for space for his restaurant, ideally in northern Delaware.
‘Cake Boss’ donates Cake vending machine to the University of Delaware
Buddy Valastro, known as the “Cake Boss,” donated a “Cake ATM” to UD and visited the university last month for a ribbon cutting.
The machines have sprung up around the country at airports and in Las Vegas.
The machine sells five different flavors of slices from Carlo’s Bakery in northern New Jersey and serves as a project for hospitality management students, who manage inventory, rotate stock and examine sales analytics.
The cakes are designed to stay fresh for at least 10 days, but they sell out much sooner, according to Sheryl Kline, deputy dean of the Lerner College of Business and Economics. Students are currently analyzing data and will make judgments that will shape the operation of the machine next spring..
Valastro has taken an entrepreneurial approach to expand his family’s bakery business to include TV shows, bakeries, restaurants and 50 cake vending machines in North America.
Valastro attended the ceremony along with his wife, Lisa, and daughter, Sofia, a junior at UD majoring in hospitality business management.
Valastro’s business includes 13 bakeries in the United States and Canada and a full-service restaurant in The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas. Valastro also spoke on campus in November 2021 and October 2022 as part of the Paul Wise Speaker Series. – Story from the University of Delaware.
