Iron Hill’s revamped menu includs ahi tuna, shrimp bucatini, calamari with sriracha IPA ranch and pretzel-crusted salmon with IPA mustard.
There are no dog days when it comes to dining in Delaware.
For instance, the state’s brewing scene is hopping, and there are plenty of opportunities to sip new wines.
A festival will showcase a dinner created by television competition winners, and a well-liked brewery is closing.
Meanwhile, a local favorite has overhauled its menu, and Mission BBQ is finally open in north Wilmington.
Shrmp Bucatini is among the new additions to the Iron Hill menu.
Iron Hill revamps menu
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, which has three Delaware locations, has overhauled its menu.
Since opening in 1996, the restaurant chain has emphasized food and beer equally.
The new menu, which has more than 30 new items and returning hits, is designed to unite the two—the food enhances the beer and vice versa.
Consider peel-and-eat shrimp with Vienna Red Lager, one of 19 dishes incorporating an Iron Hill beer. Others include calamari with sriracha IPA ranch and pretzel-crusted salmon with IPA mustard.
Don’t worry, the Philly cheesesteak rolls are still on the menu.
A health selection category includes the ever-popular black bean burger, which is under 500 calories.
Iron Hill also introduced a brunch menu on Saturday and Sunday until 2 p.m. in all Iron Hill locations.
Iron Hill also has restaurants in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and North Carolina.
Le Cavalier in the Hotel du Pont will host two wine dinners in August to celebrate summer. Photo by Rebecca Parsons.
Le Cav wine dinners
Le Cavalier in the Hotel du Pont, the French brasserie led by chef-partner Tyler Akin, is hosting two wine dinners in August to celebrate summer.
On Wednesday, Aug. 23, at 7 p.m., Le Cav will partner with Swigg, SIW Vegetable Farm, and Ouro Wines to highlight the Brandywine River Valley’s end-of-season bounty.
The five-course dinner will feature such dishes as stracciatella with grilled peach, confit tomato, and Bigorra ham; gnudi with blue crab, corn consommé, and fresh chickpeas; and profiteroles with sweet corn gelato and blueberry compote.
Swigg has selected complementary wines for each course.
Tickets are $175.
On Thursday, Aug. 31, Le Cav will partner with Chef Nich Bazik to showcase Provenance, Bazik’s forthcoming Philly restaurant.
The five-course menu will include scallop chaud froid with brown butter, grapefruit, and tangerine lace; summer corn royale with littleneck clams, dashima, black truffle and sorrel; and a surf and turf of marinated prime beef strip loin with Maine lobster, eggplant and burrata.
Tickets are $125 and available with wine pairings for $50 more or nonalcoholic pairings for $30.Reservations ($125) are available HERE with optional wine pairings ($50) or nonalcoholic cocktail pairings ($30).
Award-winner wine dinner
The Southern Delaware Wine, Food & Music Festival recently announced a special wine dinner on Friday, Sept. 16, the night before the festival at Nassau Valley Vineyards.
The multicourse dinner, also held at the winery, will star Hari Cameron, who recently appeared on “Beat Bobby Flay,” “Holiday Baking Championship” champ Dru Tevis, Sean Corea of Lewes Oyster House and Cape Henlopen High School culinary students.
The cost is $250 per person.
Emmanuel’s Restaurant
Full Belly Bistro, just outside the Lewes city limits, has closed, and Emmanuel’s Restaurant opened in the space.
Breakfast, served from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., is a specialty and features huevos rancheros, steak and eggs and omelets.
Subs, sandwiches and salads are on the lunch menu, and the dinner menu adds pizza and ribeye, salmon and carne asada options.
Mission BBQ had long lines of customers waiting to get in for its opening on Concord Pike.
Mission BBQ opens
Judging by the recent lines in Concord Gallery Shopping Center, Taylor Swift was visiting Delaware.
Just kidding. But Mission BBQ certainly has a bevy of dedicated fans willing to wait for a table.
The chain was founded on Sept. 11, 2011, to serve barbecue and remind guests that firefighters, soldiers, police officers and first responders are the country’s heroes.
In addition to brisket, pork and pulled chicken, the meats include sausages and turkey. There are baby-back ribs and the flatter St. Louise-style ribs. Salmon is the only seafood entrée, perhaps because it’s smoked.
One neat aspect: At noon each day, the restaurant pauses and asks customers to stand for a playing of the National Anthem.
The shopping center is also getting First Watch and Peach Cobbler Factory locations. The latter is another example of a chain dedicated to a dessert other than ice cream.
Consider Crumbl, which sells cookies in novel flavors, and Nothing Bundt Cakes.
Fordham & Dominion closing
The buzz has been building in the craft beer community for several weeks: Fordham and Dominion Brewing in Dover is closing.
An email to the brewery went unanswered. However, Delaware Online recently noted the planned closing, which will require Dover residents to head to Smyrna or Milford for a brewery experience.
As the name implies, the brewery was once two separate operations. Fordham began in 1995 as part of Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis and moved to Dover in 2003 for improved access to shipping.
Old Dominion was born in Ashburn, Virginia, in 1989, and the two breweries merged in 2007.
Rail Haus, a beer garden, is under construction in Dover.
Ocean View wins award
Ocean View Brewing Co. recently received a bronze medal at the U.S. Open Beer Championship for Spicy Jams.
The beer, which medaled in the chili beer category, was inspired by Mexican chocolate cake. Notes include chocolate, cinnamon, and arbol and guajillo peppers.
Lobster Boil & Beer
Up north, Bellefonte Brewing Co. in Brandywine Hundred will host a mid-Atlantic-style lobster boil on Thursday, Aug. 24, to benefit The Trauma Survivors Foundation.
Chef Robbie Jester of In Jest Events—who won the Netflix show “Pressure Cooker”—will feature his mussels with the lobster, along with the requisite sausage and sweet corn. And for dessert, expect strawberry-pretzel salad, a distinctly Delmarva dish.
The family-style meal is $85 per person. For tickets, visit eventbrite.com.
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