Coastal Point photos • Tyler Valliant: Lynn and Kylee Rickards pose for a photo in the new bake shop.Kylee Rickards’ eyes light up as she describes the process of making the impossibly delicate layers of pastry that make up her croissants.

“You just keep folding them over and over on each other,” said the Culinary Institute of America graduate, who recently opened the Morning Buns Bake Shop in Ocean View, alongside her mother, Lynn Rickards. Her voice actually takes on a quiet reverence when she talks about the eight-hour process by which she transforms layers of pastry dough into buttery perfection.

“Croissants are my babies,” said Kylee, who went off to the CIA in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., after graduating from Sussex Technical High School.

The pair opened Morning Buns on Jan. 23, in a 1920s-era cottage on Atlantic Avenue (Route 26). While it wasn’t the location they had initially sought, the little house has turned out to be a perfect fit for the bakery. Its bright yellow exterior leads to an equally sunny coral and butter yellow interior, with pale green accents here and there.

On a recent morning, sun streamed through the bakery windows, glinting off the bakery case and its jewel-like contents. The sunlight gave a sugary sheen to croissants and danishes, cookies and scones. The aromas of cinnamon and coffee fill the air.

Kylee, whose studies at CIA concentrated on baking and pastries, said she arrives at the bakery each morning by around 4:30 a.m. to start on the day’s offerings. It’s a labor of love for her, and after a few years in New York and Washington, D.C., working in the quality-control side of the bakery business, she welcomed the chance to get her hands back into the butter and flour.

“It’s hard to be passionate about something and to know it’s not what it could be,” she said.

As a general manager who also happened to be a young woman, she said, she sometimes found it difficult getting older bakers, “especially men,” to take her advice on how they could improve the quality of their products.

Having her own bakery not only gives Kylee control over her final product, it also allows her to let her creative side come out and play.

“I’ve always been creative,” she said.

Asked to choose her favorite thing to bake, she said that cakes would be her choice because she enjoys the artistic side of baking them and then decorating them.

“It combines my love of food and art,” Kylee said.

She said she particularly enjoys taking a customer’s vision and making it a reality.

“It kind of brings the whole process full-circle,” Kylee said. “It makes them happy, and it makes me happy as well.”

Asked to choose her favorite bakery treat to eat, however, her answer is, without hesitation, “pain au chocolate — chocolate croissants.”
Coastal Point photos • Tyler Valliant: Puff pastries and baked goodness are on the menu at Morning Buns Bake Shop in Ocean View.
While Kylee might be the trained baker in the family, Lynn Rickards said Morning Buns is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for her as well. Although she studied biology in college, Lynn said her own mother was a gourmet cook, “so I was cooking from very early on.”

That love of cooking for people led the Northern Virginia native and her husband, Jim, to open the original Bethany Diner on Garfield Parkway, as well as the Sabor restaurant in Bethany Beach. Now, the family focuses on the bakery, as well as Perucci’s Italian restaurant in Millville, which they also own.

Like Perucci’s, Morning Buns gets its custom-roasted coffee from the Notting Hill Coffee Roastery in Lewes, Lynn Rickards said. Morning Buns also offers soft drinks and a variety of teas.

Customers can get their bakery treats to take home or can sit in one of several cozy rooms in the bakery and enjoy the bright décor and the collection of vintage china adorning the walls. Lynn Rickards said the décor in Morning Buns is a happy combination of dishware she collected over the years “just waiting to open a bake shop,” the cottage itself lending inspiration, and just playing with colors and different pieces.

The pair plans to add even more of a vintage feel to the shop through the baked goods themselves, as they move forward into their first summer season. “Heirloom recipes” for cakes and cookies will find their way into the Morning Buns kitchen — and Kylee and Lynn Rickards said they are open to requests and suggestions from patrons. “We always listen to our customers,” Lynn said.

In fact, that’s how the bakery’s most popular item — monkey bread — came to appear in the case alongside the more upper-crust offerings, such as scones and croissants.

Each day, Morning Buns offers an array of pastries, muffins, scones, cookies, loaf cakes, cupcakes and cake pops. The flavors of cupcakes, cake pops and cookies may vary from day to day, as they are rotated on a weekly basis. In addition, Kylee said she is happy to talk to customers about made-to-order cakes and pies.

The Rickardses also plan to expand their bakery business by way of the internet, with health-conscious items such as protein bars and granola, as well as treats for diners of the canine species, to be added to their existing website.

Morning Buns also offers gluten-free items, all baked in a different location in order to avoid accidental gluten contamination, which is important for those with gluten sensitivity.

Although they have only been open a few weeks, and in wintertime at that, the Rickardses said they have been quite pleased with the reaction to the shop. Since opening the bakery, Kylee and Lynn Rickards have seen days when customers are lined up at the door waiting for them to open, as well as lines out the door on weekend mornings.

Since everything in the shop is made fresh, every day, “when it’s gone, it’s gone,” Lynn said, recalling one recent day when, by noon, “We had one cupcake and two croissants left. Everything else was gone.”

Morning Buns Bake Shop is located at 68 Atlantic Avenue, Ocean View. Parking for the shop is in the lot by the Lighthouse Realty office (the larger blue building next door); additional parking is available in the Mariners Bethel United Methodist Church overflow lot next to the bake shop.

Morning Buns is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day except Wednesdays; summer hours will be 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information on special-order cakes and other menu items, go to the bakery’s website at www.morningbunsbakeshop.com or call the bakery at (302) 307-2917.

Coastal Point • Tyler Valliant: State Sen. Gerald Hocker, left, and son Gerry are preparing to open their new grocery store at the former location of Harris Teeter, near Salt Pond.On Sunday, March 26, at 9 p.m., the doors will close for the last time at G&E Supermarket on Cedar Neck Road in Ocean View.

On Thursday, March 30, at 7 a.m. the doors will open for customers one mile to the south, at the new Hocker’s Supermarket in the Salt Pond Plaza.

“It’s bittersweet,” said Gerald “Gerry” Hocker Jr., whose father, Gerald Hocker Sr., took over the Cedar Neck Road store from his Uncle Jake in 1971.

Even though Jake Hocker had the store for 18 years — less time than the 46 years Gerald Hocker Sr. has been at the helm — some longtime customers still call the store “Jake’s.”

As Gerry and Gerald Hocker stood in the new store this week, contractors swarmed like bees, and the buzzing of drills punctuated the air. Four brand new self-checkout stands at the front of the store were swathed in plastic, to protect them from sawdust.

Shelves in the nearly 50,000 square-foot store have been rapidly filling up with non-perishable goods and frozen foods.

A large display of jars of Kitchen Kettle Village goodies stands ready for local fans of the Lancaster, Pa., food emporium and its jams, relishes, pickles and more — many of whom have weighed in on social media in response to questions from Gerry Hocker’s brother Greg, who sought input on which Kitchen Kettle Village items to stock.

The new Hocker’s store will be the second-largest purveyor of Kitchen Kettle Village wares, right behind the Pennsylvania store, according to Greg Hocker.

The Hocker family settled on the sale of the former Harris Teeter property at the intersection of Cedar Neck and Fred Hudson roads in September, and plans then began on how to configure the new store and what new things to add.

“It’s like putting together a puzzle,” Gerry Hocker said as he walked the aisles of the new store, which will bring a third more retail space compared to the G&E store.

“We’ve worked really hard to change a modern store to our family store image,” Gerald Hocker said.

The long-term future of the G&E Supermarket building has yet to be decided, according to Gerald and Gerry Hocker. For the foreseeable future, it will definitely be used to prepare food for the family’s catering and food-truck business, they said.

“One thing at a time,” Gerald Hocker emphasized, adding that the old building’s longer-term use won’t be decided until after the busy summer months.

The existing gas tanks at G&E will continue to be open, but customers who don’t pay by credit card at the pump will now pay at G&E Hardware next door. There will be gas pumps at the new store, too — those pumps are currently in the permitting process, according to Gerald Hocker.

The family’s popular deer processing service will also continue at the old store. And while the old store carried a small selection of baits, the new store’s bait offerings “for the recreational fisherman” will be expanded. By popular demand, the store will now carry 20 pound bags of ice, Gerry Hocker said.

Meanwhile, customers at the new Hocker’s Supermarket will see some new features.

Just inside the doors will be a “sit-down” area where customers can eat sandwiches, soups and salads purchased at the store. A “self-serve soft-serve” ice cream bar, complete with an array of toppings, will also be added, as will a soda machine that allows customers to create their own flavor blends.

The new store will also feature a full line of linens — a nod to vacationers who perhaps forget to bring sheets or towels from home. Gluten-free and organic food availability will be greatly expanded in the new store, Gerry Hocker said. A tank for live lobsters will join the store’s seafood department.

Hocker’s Supermarket will continue to sell sushi and has contracted with the same firm that provided sushi for the Harris Teeter store.

Many of the fixtures in the store will be familiar to customers who shopped in the Harris Teeter store, which transferred to the Hockers with everything still in it — from checkout stations to deli slicers. The family has purchased new checkout stations and new pressure fryers to prepare the store’s fried chicken.

“We know how we like to make it, and we want to make sure to make it the same way,” Gerry Hocker said.

An additional produce cooler has been purchased to hold the store’s supply of fruits and vegetables, many of which are from local fields.

The company is hiring 25 to 30 more employees, in addition to the 300 or so who are currently employed across G&E, Hocker’s Supercenter and Hocker’s Deli. The additional employees will be needed, Gerry Hocker said, to keep the store stocked and to properly staff the additional space.

As the Hocker family celebrates its 70th year serving the local community, the father and son were a bit wistful about moving to the new building, while at the same time embracing the opportunities the new space will give them.

“You’re walking out of one, but you’re growing into the other one,” Gerry Hocker said. “It was an opportunity that we had to take. It gives us a chance to grow, and that’s what we’ve always strived to do,” he said. “This is a big leap for our family.”

Gerald Hocker reflected on his own career as he said, “There’s a lot of history. And this is my final chapter.” He said he feels fortunate that his children have stepped into leadership roles in the business.

Both men expressed gratitude to the community that has supported the family’s businesses through the years.

“It’s the loyal people that stuck with us that have kept us in business,” Gerald Hocker said.

The family sees the March 30 opening as a “soft opening — a very, very soft opening,” Gerry Hocker said, adding that he hopes to have the store up to its full capacity by Easter.

Coastal Point photos • Tyler Valliant: Aquacare physical therapist Lauren Nuttle demonstrates her skills on fellow employee Elizabeth Kim.After 10 years in its Millville location, the staff at Aquacare Physical Therapy continues to expand its “menu” of services.

“We offer both ‘surf’ and ‘turf,’” said physical therapist Lauren Nuttle — referring to the pool-based aquatherapy available at Aquacare, as well as the “land-based” therapies offered there, too.

While the aquatherapy is obvious from the name, Nuttle said, the office offers more traditional physical therapy techniques, as well as some new ones that have just come into use in the past several years.

Nuttle said she loves the breadth of services offered at Aquacare because “I don’t have to tell someone, ‘Oh, we don’t have that here,’ or ‘We can’t do that here.’” The depth of the services allows staff at Aquacare to accept a wide range of patients, Nuttle said.

She recalled one favorite patient who had suffered several broken bones in a motorcycle accident. Thanks to the availability of the pool for therapy in which his body weight was supported — a person submerged up to his neck in water feels a loss of 90 percent of their body weight — he was able to start therapy there and follow through all the way to his complete recovery.

“We can serve every age range and every patient level,” she said, adding that the motorcycle crash patient is now back to his regular routine of hardcore gym workouts.

A technique called “dry needling” (also known as myofascial trigger-point dry needling or intramuscular stimulation) is the use of either solid-core or hollow-core needles for muscle pain treatment. The needles are inserted through the skin into specific areas of the muscle, known as trigger points.

Nuttle herself has been a dry-needling patient and said it helped her when rotator cuff spasms made any arm movement painful, with the therapy restoring her ability to raise her arm straight above her head.

Dry needling has been used in Delaware since 2009; Delaware’s legislature became the 29th state in the nation to regulate its use in physical therapy in 2014.

Aquacare also offers treatment for pelvic issues in both women and men and is the first physical therapy practice on Delmarva to do so. Pelvic-floor issues aren’t talked about much, Nuttle said, and often people suffer in silence because either they don’t know there is treatment or they have concluded that their symptoms are normal.

“You shouldn’t have to plan your vacation around where the restrooms are,” Nuttle said simply.

Aquacare offers high-tech applications for pelvic floor issues that help patients gain better understanding of their own bodies, which ensures that treatment is as effective as possible.

Another recent addition to the services offered at Aquacare extends beyond the human species to canines that need physical therapy. Nuttle, who has received special training in canine physical therapy, said it’s a specialty that requires a certain ability to understand non-verbal cues from patients — either human or canine.

When a dog is in pain or discomfort, Nuttle said, “They can’t tell you. But they do…” — it’s simply a matter of knowing how to read the non-verbal cues. Canine physical therapy also involves quite a bit of owner education, she said. The educational process emphasizes the importance of owners thinking about their pets’ health in terms of their needs for healing, rather than what their pets seem to want to do.

That’s the big difference between human physical therapy and canine physical therapy, Nuttle said. As an example, she said, “When an older dog with a bad hip still wants to go get that ball,” owners need to remember not to throw the ball as far, at least not initially. Another example: Just as people often remove throw rugs to reduce the tripping risk for senior humans, they should do the same for dogs, Nuttle said.

The most common reasons for veterinarians referring pets to Aquacare include weight management and osteoarthritis management, Nuttle said. Referrals are not necessary for dogs to be treated at Aquacare; however, she emphasized that if there has been a traumatic injury, the dog needs to be seen by a veterinarian.

Nuttle said canine physical therapy is not something that every physical therapist can do, or wants to do, but that she has enjoyed the addition of the service to the Aquacare facility for the past three years.

“It’s been very rewarding for me,” she said.

The Millville Aquacare facility is one of 10 Delmarva locations; the others are located in Seaford, Lewes and Millsboro in Delaware and Berlin, Annapolis, Salisbury (two locations), Easton and West Ocean City in Maryland. The first Aquacare facility was opened in Salisbury in 1998.

In the past year, Aquacare has also formed a partnership with Atlantic General Hospital and Berlin gastroenterologist Dr. Gerald Canakis, to offer the pelvic-floor help for both women and men.

The public is being invited to celebrate their 10th anniversary with Aquacare from 2 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 6, when the staff will welcome visitors with gourmet appetizers and cocktails, complimentary massages by staff members, door prizes and a grand prize of a free 12-month pool membership.

Aquacare staff will also host a series of demonstrations and free sessions during the event. They are:

• 2-3 p.m. — Free water aerobics class (call to register);

• 3-3:30 p.m. — “Bottom Line on Kegels,” a women’s health discussion by physical therapist Malisa Ochotnicky;

• 3:30-4 p.m., “Am I Dizzy or Just Unsteady,” a balance program by physical therapist Donielle Brasure;

• 4-4:30 p.m. — “Physical Therapy for My Dog,” a canine therapy program introduction by physical therapist Lauren Nuttle; and

• 4:30-5 p.m. — “Oww… My Muscles Hurt!” a dry-needling demonstration by Nicole Evans, physical therapist.

At 5 p.m., there will be a ribbon-cutting and “alumni picture,” in which all past patients are invited to participate.

Aquacare Physical Therapy is located at 38069 Town Center Drive, Unit 15, in the Millville Town Center. For more information on services, call the office at (302) 539-7237 or visit their website at www.aquacarephysicaltherapy.com.

Coastal Point • Shaun M. Lambert : The Lord’s Landscaping team has been serving the community for nearly 40 years, and continuesIn 1972, after graduating from college and moving to Sussex County, Bill Lord was not planning to open a landscaping business.

“When I first moved here, I was a teacher. I was just not destined to be a teacher. My wife Donna was. Her teaching job gave me the flexibility to try to do something I really wanted to do.”

Lord left education and answered a want-ad in the paper, and worked for a landscaper in Lewes for two years. He then decided to go out on his own and, with the help of his wife’s grandfather, Amos McCabe, was able to use for his budding business some of the property in Millville that once housed Delaware Quality Feeds.

“Amos let me use a little corner office there and a little patch of ground to store some stuff,” recalled Lord. “I’d watch out after him, do some jobs for him. He never had a son… He loved me right from the get-go. He took me hunting. I had never been hunting before, you know. I’m from Philadelphia.”

Thus, in 1978, Lord’s Landscaping opened with a total of two employees — including Lord himself.

“The timing couldn’t have been better,” said Lord, noting he had initially a few jobs “here and there… Then North Bethany kicked in.”

Landscaping the majority of North Bethany, including Sea-Del, helped establish Lord as one of the area’s go-to landscapers. Lord’s has since grown in terms of business offerings. But they are still operating out of the old feed mill.

Now, in its 39th year in the community, Lord’s daughter Amy Hughes and her husband, Pat, have joined the business, with a surprisingly similar story.

Amy, a 2004 Indian River High School graduate, studied education at the University of Delaware. Following her 2008 graduation, she taught at her high school alma mater for five years, and then moved to the Southern Delaware School of the Arts for two years, before joining the family business. Pat Hughes — who, along with Amy, joined the business in January — left his teaching job at Sussex Central High School.

Amy had worked part time at the business for a year and a half before making a fulltime transition to office manager, taking over the role from her mother.

“Once I had babies, she started watching them and I started working here,” said Amy Hughes. “I just started working here fulltime as of Jan. 1, of this year. It is all very new to me!”

But it’s not all new to Hughes, who worked at the family landscaping business while growing up.

“It was a lot of watering. The big joke is they used to make me clean the pond, and I did not like that. One day I just said, ‘I’m not doing this anymore,’” she recalled with a laugh. “They don’t have that pond anymore.”

Being a family-friendly business is important to Lord and Hughes, as their third generation of possibly future landscapers are some of the youngest visitors to the garden center.

“Now it’s pretty cool. There’s been a Pack ’n Play in that corner, and I’ve been bringing my daughter in,” said Hughes.

“We’ve had a lot of fun. It’s been great having my dad... He’ll peek his head out and crack jokes. It’s also great because now my mom is getting to know my kids, which has been a really cool part of it. Sometimes we’ll have been working late and we’ll go to the house to pick up the girls, and she’ll have dinner made.”

Bill Lord’s eldest, Mike, was involved in the family business as well; however, he recently decided to open his own landscaping business.

“He did what I did and went out on his own. Can’t fault him for that; it’s the American way,” said Lord.

Now having joined the family business, Hughes has put her touch on things — most noticeably, perhaps, in the newly revamped garden center.

“We have cleaned every closet; we have cleaned the attics. We have cleaned every single thing and have redone ever single part of the garden center. Every week, someone comes in and it looks completely different,” she laughed. “We’ve worked really, really hard the last two months.”

Along with the garden center, Lord’s also has commercial greenhouses, and offers landscape design and installation, as well as landscape maintenance.

“We have three different divisions to the business. One is the garden center, then my dad does the design work — he draws the plans — and then Cody Kuhnert runs our construction side of the business. So, whatever my dad plans out and draws, Cody has a crew that does that work. And, Pat does the maintenance, like the annual mulching, trimming, spring cleans, things like that,” said Hughes.

Both Lord and Hughes praised their loyal employees, including Joe “Big Joe” Valasus, Lindsey Thompson, Geraldina Cruz, Andrea Lewis, Sam Michels and A.J. Kelley, calling them driven, motivated and inspired.

“They have been really, really wonderful with me starting here and have been completely supportive of my crazy ideas. They’re so knowledgeable about how everything is run,” said Hughes. “They’re awesome.”

“Working down on the beach, designing landscapes, is about as cool as it gets for a left-brained guy like me,” added Lord. “I really think we all love what we’re doing. We get a lot of fun comments from people coming in saying, ‘If you ever need anybody, I’d love to come work here.’ I think that’s the attitude our employees have.”

Lord said he loves working out of a building built by his grandfather, and now sharing the business with his daughter, son-in-law and, sometimes, his grandchildren.

“It’s the quintessential family business.”

Lord’s Landscaping is located at 35577 Atlantic Avenue in Millville. For more information, call (302) 539-6119 or visit www.lordslandscaping.com.

Coastal Point • Shaun M. Lambert: The Big Fish Grill front-of-house team is ready for action in Ocean View.One fish, two fish, red fish, new Fish.

Fans of the Big Fish Restaurant Group may already be keen on the group’s well-established area staples, including the classic American cuisine of the Summer House Saloon on Rehoboth Avenue and farm-to-table concept of Salt Air in Rehoboth Beach; the three Big Fish Grill locations in Rehoboth Beach, Wilmington and Glen Mills, Pa.; and the Crab House, Bella Coast Italian Kitchen, Big Fish Seafood Market; and the list going on.

But despite 10 unique operations, and nine of them in the First State, a Big Fish endeavor from restauranteurs and brothers Eric and Norman Sugrue had yet to make its way down to the southernmost Delaware beaches until this past winter.

That’s when the brothers Sugrue recognized an opportunity to venture south, when the location of the former Magnolia’s restaurant on Cedar Neck Road in Ocean View made itself available.

After completely revamping the space, raising the raw bar, wrangling the dream-team staff and opening up the doors, it didn’t take long for the latest addition to the Big Fish family to go over more than well-received by locals and foodies alike, with the Grill now gearing up for its first summer season near Bethany Beach.

“All the Cedar Neckers — we’re ecstatic. We’re so happy that Big Fish is here,” said retired Southern Delaware School of the Arts teacher and long-time Big Fish fan Maria Just, who recently had her retirement party catered by the group. “I’ve always frequented the Big Fish up in Rehoboth, and now to have this venue right here in this area — we needed this. We definitely needed something like this.”

While Just and the rest of the “Cedar Neckers” crew were happy to have their own personal BFG almost right in their own personal back yards, the local gang was also pleasantly surprised to see as is the Sugrue brother’s M.O., the Ocean View location featuring its own unique details — ones not necessarily found up in Rehoboth or Wilmington or Glen Mills — ranging from the atmosphere to the menu offerings, all the while staying true to the Big Fish Grill roots first planted some 20 years ago, back in 1997.

“One thing about Big Fish is that we do our best to make each location unique,” explained General Manager Kate Lively. “Every location is different. We have all the classics here, but then we have a lot of other things that you won’t find at the other locations.”
Coastal Point • Shaun M. Lambert: Big Fish Grill’s Chesapeake tortellini is served with sautéed gulf shrimp, baby spinach, and blush sauce, then topped with a signature crabcake.
The restaurant’s dual-level seating, featuring plush booths and brown crab paper-lined tables, its full bar wielding 10 rotating draft lines and plenty of sports-reeling flat screens, and the original iconic Magnolia’s fireplace to set the mood — it all comes with the territory of the new space.

But when it comes to culinary vision, Director of Food Operations Joe “Jo-Lo” Lopez is aiming to make his mark on the menu with some idiosyncratic offerings.

The menu

As an 11-year veteran of the group, Lopez is taking full advantage of the company’s own personal fish market in Rehoboth to help mold the menu.

With specials moving and shaking nightly, the always epicurious chef is putting the focus on keeping things fresh and local in terms of the rotating raw bar and fish board.

“He’s the man. He’s our go to guy,” said Lively. “He works really hard, obviously. He knows what he’s doing, and he’s got it down.”

Lively mentioned Big Fish’s chilled whiskey smoked salmon as one of the most raved-about appetizers so far, the dish getting cold-smoked and caramelized before being wrapped in asparagus and topped off with cucumber, capers and the house lemon cream sauce.

Rivaling the Tennessee rye-complemented ray-fin to start things off would be Big Fish’s famous Oysters Crab-Effeller, topped with lump crab meat — along with other local favorites, including but most certainly not limited to the fresh shucked and flash-fried buffalo oysters, cast-iron calamari with “Bayou sauce” for added oomph, and fire-roasted maple sriracha wings served up with lime buttermilk crema.

Over at the raw bar, the specials are subject to what’s fresh at the fish market, but some of the usual suspects on ice include a lineup of raw oysters and clams, chilled lobster and jumbo shrimp, stone crab claws and steamed jumbo shrimp, to go along with menu-staple steam pots featuring Prince Edward Island mussels and middleneck clams.

There are also plenty of soups and salads to go along with — the loaded iceberg wedge topped with bacon and gorgonzola, and a roasted red pepper lobster bisque, just to name a few — but the menu really starts to get musical when it comes to the main event, where it’s not just seafood mavens who get to draw the long straw.

“We make sure that there’s something for everyone,” Lively said, noting non-seafood related staples including a Berkshire Farms pork chop, old-fashioned chophouse burger, fried-chicken club and the “Farmer’s Plate” entrée prepared specifically with “green” eaters in mind. The family-friendly restaurant also features a full kids’ menu, and she said the chefs make sure to take customer food allergies seriously.

“We just try to make sure that everyone is comfortable here,” Lively continued. “Everybody goes the extra mile to make sure that you’re happy.”

The Big Fish Board is naturally in a state of perpetual fish-finding flux but consistently features a wide selection of fresh catches, ranging anywhere from the blacked mahi mahi with strawberry mango salsa over sweet potato mashers to the fresh Scottish salmon coming caramelized or grilled with shaved parmesan and Dijon cream with choice sides, yellowfin tuna with lobster sauce, and even the good old beer-battered Alaskan cod fish-and-chips, served up with salted fries and homemade slaw.

The non-fish-board contingent features include the broiled jumbo-lump crabcakes, dockside stew, Chesapeake tortellini, San Francisco-style cioppino, Maine lobster and crab mac-and-cheese, and New England-style lobster roll, in addition to sandwiches, and fish and shrimp tacos.

The bar

At the bar, they’ve got all the domestic favorites, a wide wine selection and even a happening happy-hour from 4 to 6 p.m., featuring both drink and food specials.

But when it comes to what’s on tap, bartender and craft brew master Matt Ellison has got his customers covered.

“The joy that I get is when someone tries something new that I recommended to them and says, ‘Hey, this is actually really good,’” Ellison said with a laugh. “Nailed it.”

With 10 beers to choose from on draft — the majority of them from local breweries a far cry from being able to afford 30-second Super Bowl spots — Ellison explained that, sometimes, a customer might not know their Elysian from their elbow in terms of where to begin. That’s when he steps in to play matchmaker.

“I like to ask them what they normally drink, and that will give me a general idea of where to guide them,” Ellison explained of his process. “We have a lot of people that really enjoy domestics, but if they’re looking for something on draft, the Fordham Gypsy is incredibly approachable.”

“Every beer has got a buddy,” he went on. “You like Blue Moon? Try Allagash. If you’re not familiar with IPAs or you don’t like hops, we’ve got a nice Belgian on tap. You want something unique? The Victory Kirsch Gose is really fantastic.”

Lot 3 from Salisbury, Md., Victory Brewing Company from Downington, Pa., and Dogfish Head from Milton are just a few of the regional barley pops to make cameos along the tap handles, but Lively said they’ll be trying new beers according to the season, with one draft line always rotating.

In addition to a selection of house libations such as fresh-squeezed orange and grapefruit crushes, jalapeño-infused spicy margaritas and “The Dirty Fish” dry martini with blue-cheese stuffed olives, Big Fish also offers a selection of oyster shooters, including the “Locals Only” with house Old Bay vodka and Bloody Mary mix, topped up with a freshly-shucked shellfish.

For Lively, however, it’s the extra-mile approach from the staff that sets Big Fish apart.

The staff

Whether it’s imparting craft beer knowledge or something as simple as friendly service with a smile, Lively said it’s the staff that’s been the biggest factor in the restaurant’s success so far and their aim to continue that success in the future.

“The major thing is the staff here is awesome. We’re really happy with everyone from the front of the house to back of the house,” she said. “Everyone gets along. They have fun with the customers. All of the personalities are meshing, and there’s a lot of different ones. Everybody’s always smiling and happy.”

“We love the bartenders, and we love the food,” added Just. “We love Matt — we’ve known Matt since he worked at Que Pasa. You can’t have a bad experience with Big Fish — they’re great.”

New to the staff and also new to the area is server Jenny Mahaffey, who also works as a personal trainer at World Gym in Ocean View and has enjoyed a new opportunity to get to know the community as the community gets to know Big Fish Grill.

“I’m from right outside of D.C., where you never really see anybody you know. Here, everybody’s kind of connected in the greatest way,” said Mahaffey. “I know people from the gym. My kids go to Lord Baltimore, and people from L.B. come in here to see everybody. I think it’s so cool.”

While the restaurant is currently open Thursday through Monday, Big Fish will go to seven days a week starting May 16, when their first summer season in Ocean View hits full swing.

And while they may have some new things in the works for the future — as is always the case with the Sugrue brothers and Big Fish Restaurant Group family — for right now, they’re just excited to be a Big Fish, now finding themselves in a slightly smaller pond to call home.

“This is just a great place to be,” said Lively. “It was perfect timing, really — right place, right time. It just worked out. We’re so excited to be here.”

Big Fish Grill is located at 30415 Cedar Neck Road in Ocean View, at the former location of Magnolia’s. The restaurant is currently open at 4 p.m. from Thursday to Monday. For more information on Big Fish, visit their website at www.bigfishoceanview.com or call the restaurant at (302) 829-8163. To inquire about catering, contact Susan Sokowski at susan@bigfishgrill.com.

Coastal Point • Shaun M. Lambert Rose and Brian Conte hold up a white spinach with ricotta, fresh garlic and olive oil pizza in their new pizzeria in Bethany Beach.It was an offer that they couldn’t refuse.

After purchasing a home in Millville By the Sea six years ago, the search had been on for the Naples, Italy-born couple turned lifetime restauranteurs in all things Italian cuisine, Rose and Brian Conte.

After the success of Café Palermo — the Wilmington-based establishment that they had owned and operated together for 13 years — the Contes had been searching for the right location to introduce the cuisine of their home country to what they were hoping to make their new home, in Bethany Beach.

But after trying to find that perfect location for more than five years, it finally found them instead, on a boardwalk day last spring.

“We just happened to be walking around on a Sunday, and then we saw it. When we saw this spot, I said, ‘Brian — this is it.’ I knew right away,” said Rose Conte of the now official location of the Pomodoro Pizzeria, next to Dickey’s Frozen Custard just off the Bethany Beach boardwalk.

“It was perfect. It was exactly what we had been looking for.”

It wasn’t long after that that the Contes made their own not-to-be refused offer on the space, leaving Café Palermo in the hands of a family member while making the full-time move to the beach, and finally opening the doors to their latest of a lifelong-line of pizza-pie pursuits last month.

With Pomodoro, the Contes are aiming to now put the focus on their famous-sized slices (each a sixth of a 20-inch pie) while offering easier options for beachgoers, such as salads, cannolis, calzones, stromboli, cooler drinks and a wide selection of full-sized pies as well.

But while scaling back from fine dining may be a concept as fresh as the ingredients that the marinara-married couple has long-prided themselves on, the secret family recipe for everything from the hand-rolled dough to the signature sauce is one that’s been passed down for generations.

“It’s how we do it at home. It’s how I grew up. It’s how my mother grew up. It’s how my grandmother grew up,” said Rose Conte. “My grandmother used to tell my mother to go into the garden and pick tomatoes to make the sauce.”

From Italy, with love

While it was Rose Conte’s “Nonna” that inspired both her early love for cooking and the Pomodoro name (pomodoro meaning “tomato” in Italian), it wasn’t until she arrived in the United States in 1968 at the age of 12 that her passion for pizza turned into her inevitable career.

“July 14, 1968 — I’ll never forget that day. We landed in Brooklyn,” Conte recalled, going on to explain that she had arrived by plane and not by boat. “My famous uncle Sal sponsored my whole family to come here.”

It was in Brooklyn-based pizzerias that her two brothers perfected the art of the pie-toss, eventually opening up their own shop in Wilmington in 1970 and calling on their younger sister to help out with the family business.

“I was the only one that spoke English,” Conte recalled with a laugh. “So that’s when I began — a 14-year-old going to school and working with my brothers.

“That’s where we learned how to make everything the way we still make it. It’s always been the same recipe since 1970, and we’ll never change it. I guess you could say I have some experience.”

Eventually marrying her first husband, whom she had known back in her home town of Naples but who hadn’t arrived in the states until 1975, Conte took a break from the pizza shop that they owned together in New Jersey to raise her own family — two sons and a daughter.

While she still helped out at the shop during those days, it wasn’t until years later, after her first husband passed away, that she moved to Philadelphia to open a new shop and met Brian, “another pizza-man” and native Italian. The two would marry and go into business together for now going on 17 years.

“He was another pizza-man,” Rose Conte said with a laugh. “I guess I take them home.”

Together, the partners in pie make for a perfect team. Rose makes the sauce, Brian makes the dough — both of them handling the art forms that they’ve mastered through the years.

“We work together. It’s the family way — Mom and Pop,” said Rose Conte. “I know how to make the dough and he knows how to make the sauce, but I don’t even attempt to do the dough. You have to know exactly how to do it. I don’t know — maybe it’s us that’s picky.”

“It’s not being picky — it’s an art form. The dough has to be the same every single day you make it,” added Brian Conte. “I can give the ingredients to anybody, but I don’t know how they’re going to work with it. The way we do it, we have our own secret.”

From the oven,
with toppings (and without gluten, upon request)

While customers are sure to find Italian favorites — including Margherita pizza with fresh tomato, basil and buffalo mozzarella; White Spinach with ricotta, fresh garlic and olive oil; and Pizza Al Pomodoro, served with fresh marinara, garlic, basil, and olive oil; Pizza al Pesto; White Chicken Brocoli; and the Pomodoro Special, touting almost every ingredient on the menu — Pomodoro is also serving up some American-inspired pies with an authentic Italian twist.

There’s the Hawaiian with pineapple and ham, the BBQ Chicken, White Buffalo Chicken and Meat Lovers, with bacon, ham, pepperoni and sausage, and plenty more.

There’s also a variety of calzones and stromboli to go along with grab-and-go salad options, such as antipasto, Greek salad and Rose’s specialty chicken Caesar, which will make their way to the menu by the time summer is in full swing.

All the pies are available with a gluten-free dough, and all the ingredients come from the fresh local produce and hand-cut meats and cheeses that the Contes have hung their hat on since the beginning.

“We make everything from scratch,” explained Rose Conte. “Brian gets in at 8 a.m. just to make the dough. It has to be just right. We use whole-milk buffalo mozzarella cheese, Italian peel tomatoes, fresh toppings — we do them all ourselves — 100 percent you can taste the difference when you make your own.”

“It’s the best pizza around. It’s more like New York-style pizza — thin crust,” added Reagan Bennett, who’s been stopping in at Pomodoro for lunch since their first day in business. “And Rose and Brian are just great people, too — super-nice.”

From the old country,
to their new home

Since setting up shop, it hasn’t been only loyal pizza-patrons making the Contes already feel like they’re at home.

Local businesspeople from all around town have been stopping in to welcome them to the neighborhood, try a slice and wish them luck.

“I’ve never met people so nice in my life — I’m not kidding,” said Brian Conte. “The people are really nice down here. It’s unbelievable. It’s a dream to retire at the beach.”

“Everybody has come in here with open arms and welcomed us. The people here are beautiful,” added Rose Conte. “It’s so nice down here. It’s so relaxing.

“It reminds me of home, where I grew up. I walk to the bank and I feel like I’m back in Italy, walking down the street, because I’m next to the beach. In Italy we have beaches everywhere. I walk to the bank and think, ‘I am really working today?’ This is our home now. We’re at the beach and working at the same time.”

While the Contes “retirement” will consist of keeping the shop open seven days-a-week for at least 10 months out of the year — with plans to visit family in Philadelphia, New Jersey, Seattle and even back home in Italy when the close up shop for January and February — one day, they’ll be ready to pass on their secret family recipes to a new generation of Pomodoro pizza-people just starting out in what has always been a family business.

“I have six grandkids,” said Rose Conte with a laugh. “They’re the only ones we’re going to share the recipe with. One day, they’re going to learn.”

Pomodoro Pizzeria is located at 101 Garfield Parkway, next to Dickey’s Frozen Custard, in Bethany Beach.

The shop is currently open seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the week and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, with summer hours extending in the upcoming weeks.

For more on Pomodoro, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pomodoropizzeriabethanybeach. To order for pick-up, call the shop at (302) 537-1359.

Coastal Point • Tyler Valliant : The PNC Bank branch in Selbyville will close June 16.Selbyville is losing one of its two banks this spring. The PNC Bank at the corner of Church Street and Main Street will permanently close its doors at 3 p.m. on Friday, June 16.

The ATM will remain on-site at 1 West Church Street immediately after the office closes, although there is no timeframe for that availability. It’s a higher-functioning ATM that can process deposits.

Why is the bank closing? Basically, PNC representatives said, people use machines more for banking, and PNC doesn’t need a two-story office building on Church Street anymore.

“Over the last several years, we have been going over an evaluation of our overall branch network,” said PNC spokesperson Marcey Zwiebel. “We’ve also just been looking at data that says the way customers use branches is changing. They’re increasingly using the convenient and alternative channels” — online, mobile or ATM banking — “for many of the basic transactions that they used to use the branch for… We’ve been taking a look at how we can support our customers when and how and where they want.”

The corporation notifies customers 90 days before branch closures. This is PNC’s only Delaware branch closure planned from January to July 2017.

Customer accounts are being transferred to the PNC location at 118 Main Street in Millsboro.

“Customers are still welcome to use any branch that’s most convenient to them, where they live or work. … They don’t have to use that location,” Zwiebel said of the Millsboro branch.

The other nearest locations are the Bayside location at 31231 Americana Parkway, Selbyville (West Fenwick), and the Ocean Pines location at 11045 Racetrack Road, Berlin, Md.

The company has asked if the Selbyville Town Council would consider allowing PNC to install a mini drive-though ATM in the town hall parking lot. Council members have briefly considered the possibility, although they said they were wary of allowing a private bank to lease public land. They said they thought a grocery store parking lot would be more appropriate.

If they approved the request, PNC staff would first evaluate the property to decide if an ATM would even fit properly. (Fenwick Island got a similar drive-up ATM a few years ago, when PNC abandoned that branch.)

“When we close or consolidate, we make every effort to place the employees in other locations,” Zwiebel added.

The corporate office did not share how many employees currently work or may be moved from that location, or any potential severance benefits for them. PNC employs 52,000 people across 19 states and Washington, D.C.

This may be the first time in 114 years that the Church Street property wasn’t a bank.

Founded in 1903, Baltimore Trust Company was one of the first banks in southeast Sussex County. It was founded by Selbyville resident John G. Townsend Jr., later Delaware governor, U.S. senator and founder of Townsend’s Inc. poultry company.

Baltimore Trust was merged to form the Mercantile Peninsula Bank in the 1990s, which was later purchased by PNC around 2008.

PNC Bank is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., and Delaware is part of the company’s Greater Maryland region.

“We have retail executives all over the country, so I can’t tell you specifically where that decision was made,” said Zwiebel of the move to close Selbyville’s location.

Selbyville Town Council members said they understood that the PNC property carries a no-compete clause for several years, so another bank could not immediately replace the empty building. Zwiebel said PNC can either own or lease the properties it uses. Sussex County’s mapping website lists Baltimore Trust Co. as the landowner, with a P.O. box address in Atlanta, Ga.

Selbyville Town Council members lamented the loss, especially, as they considered the bank a main draw that brings people downtown.

“We continue to work with the communities and support our communities where we do business, even if we no longer have a branch there,” which means providing financial education or philanthropic efforts locally, said Zwiebel.

It wasn’t Selbyville’s only bank, either. On Route 113, there is a WSFS Bank at the Strawberry Center, 38394 DuPont Boulevard, Selbyville.

For more information, customers can call PNC at 1 West Church Street at (302) 436-8236.

Coastal Point • Submitted: Big Chill Beach Club has a view of the Indian River Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.Like a summer sun rising above the Atlantic Ocean, the large yellow umbrella atop the concession building at Delaware Seashore State Parks concession stand signals a fresh start.

The umbrella is the signature piece of the new Big Chill Beach Club; it sits atop the venue’s glass-enclosed eating area. That area is surrounded by a large deck, where diners can enjoy 360-degree views encompassing the ocean, the Indian River Inlet Bridge and the Indian River Bay.

Those who would rather keep their feet in the sand can do so by taking their food back to the beach or by sitting at tables in the sand at the new eatery.

A partnership between Delaware State Parks and La Vida Hospitality Group, the Big Chill Beach Club brings to the venture the group’s experience with its other projects, Crooked Hammock Brewery, Restaurant & Backyard Beer Garden; Fork+Flask at Nage; Taco Reho food truck; and the original Big Chill Cantina.

State officials, including Gov. John Carney, Department of Natural Resources Secretary Shawn Garvin and state Director of Tourism Linda Parkowski recently gathered with La Vida partners at the newest Big Chill location to celebrate the partnership and the upcoming opening of the Big Chill Beach Club.

“Big Chill Beach Club is an example of how visitors to the state can benefit from the entrepreneurial business leaders here in Delaware,” Parkowski said.

La Vida partner Josh Grapski added, “This unique venue, with its incredible views, will be a wonderful amenity for the park.”

Grapski told the Coastal Point that the project was born more than a year ago, after La Vida answered a call for bids for a project, in partnership with the State, to bring a unique eatery to the state park’s beachfront.

He said the company had been looking for a beachfront spot, but nothing seemed available until the state parks project came up.

“We kind of jumped into their process,” he said.

Grapski said he and his partners came to understand and appreciate the concerns voiced by residents about the facility’s environmental potential impact in the state park, and they came to understand why certain processes are needed for state-related projects.

“I understand, legally, that the parks need to be considerate of certain things,” he said. “I think of it as all positive.”

The resulting facility includes the 4,600-square-foot rooftop area, with its enclosed area under the umbrella and an adjacent deck, as well as a 4,400-square-foot tented area and numerous tables in the sand.

Construction of the beachfront project presented some weather-related challenges, Grapski said, as the company scurried to ready the location in the midst of several days of rain. Despite the rain and other challenges, he said he hopes to have a “soft opening” over Memorial Day weekend, with their official opening set for June 2.

The Big Chill will employ at least 40 to 50 people, Grapski said, and possibly more by the time July 4 rolls around.

Grapski said he expects weather, and its effect on the beach area — as well as the venue’s exposure to potentially extreme elements — to be an interesting factor for the staff at the new venture.

“It’s going to be a learning experience,” he said.

The signature umbrella structure, with its 36-foot span, was imported from Austria for the project and is rated to withstand winds of up to 100 mph, according to Grapski. Full restaurant and bar service will be available there.

By June, the partners intend to offer breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menu will range from fresh seafood, including an oyster bar, to boardwalk-inspired burgers and fries, as well as tacos and burritos.

The event pavilion also offers views of the waterfront and bridge, with space for sit-down dinners for up to 160 people, or for parties, meetings or other events for up to 200 people. Catering available from La Vida Hospitality will provide menus for any event, from casual parties to formal weddings.

“This is welcome news for the growing number of couples who want to get married at the beach and have their reception just steps away,” said Grapski.

Beachgoers who wish to purchase takeout fare will find it available at the previously existing concession stand underneath the new deck structure. A fire pit will also be located in the sandy area near the building.

While the “vibe” at the new Big Chill location will be similar to that of the Big Chill Surf Cantina, Grapski said the inlet location will be more family-friendly, compared to 21-and-older appeal of the Rehoboth Beach Big Chill.

State park fees will be in effect for entrance to the Beach Club; park pass holders may park free of charge. The facility is handicapped accessible, by way of a lift apparatus that goes to the rooftop deck area, Grapski said.

Find out more about the Big Chill Beach Club online at www.bigchillbeachclub.com or call (302) 402-5300.

Coastal Point • Tyler Valliant: Head chef Celaso Morales, left, owner Jeff Hamer, second from right, and Director of Operations Briana Roviske gather with the crew during their opening-night celebration last Thursday, May 25.It’s what Jeff Hamer, president and founder of the Fins Hospitality Group, likes to refer to as “being the rising tide.”

The long-time restaurateur has built his success directly around that of his “Fins family,” ever since his days of launching his very first venture in Rehoboth Beach.

“That’s why we like to say, ‘It’s the rising tide,’” Hamer explained. “If we can provide good-paying jobs, we can lift the people up around us, then the community just becomes stronger. [Our employees] all have families, homes in the areas, mortgages, their kids are in school — they have a stake in the community.

“That’s really been our blessing — it’s not about me when people say they love Fins,” he continued. “It’s the employees. They’re the ones that do it. I come up with the ideas and kind of paint broad strokes, and they’re the ones that make it happen. They make Fins, they really do.”

While Hamer’s vision has come a long way since its early beginnings — now including four Fins locations spanning from Rehoboth to Berlin, Md., Claws Seafood House in Rehoboth and Big Oyster Brewing Co., which is set to debut its new brew pub in Lewes later this month — the group’s “be the rising tide” philosophy has remained the same.

That was the case when the newest addition to the Fins family opened its doors last week, ready to embrace their new home in the Bethany Beach area with Fins Ale House & Raw Bar.

“My wife, Kim, and I actually take our morning walk in Bethany now,” said Hamer of his new daily routine after dropping off his kids at the bus stop en route to Worcester Preparatory School in Berlin. “It’s really just a great community. Everyone is really nice. It’s quiet. There’s plenty of nature trails here. It’s just its own little beautiful place in Delaware.”

After taking over the former location of Burnzy’s Bar & Grille in the Marketplace at Sea Colony, Fins Bethany will aim to stay true to its roots while offering some unique additions specific to the new location.

“We wanted to make sure that we brought in some veteran staff that represent our brand the way that we know they can,” said Director of Operations Briana Rovinske.

“We still have our ‘Build Your Own’ Fresh Fish Board — you could come into Fins seven nights a week and have a different meal every night just off of the fresh fish board — but then our chefs have come in with a lot of fresh ideas and a lot of new menu items that we’re very excited about.”

Menu staples and signature specials

Longtime members of the Fins family, including Rovinske, head chef Celaso Morales and executive chef Max Sopinskyy, have teamed up to create the location’s signature dishes to go along with the ever-changing menu of nightly specials.

So far, the new dishes, such as the Grilled Shellfish Combo — featuring baby lobster tail, shrimp, scallops and chorizo — have become fast fan favorites.

“We want to give people different options. We keep it fresh for the customers and keep it fresh for us, too,” said Morales of his culinary vision. “I’m very excited to be here in Bethany. I want to show people what we can do.”

The menu also includes an array of seafood specialties, ranging from the Fins’ Shellfish Pasta, Spanish Seafood Paella and Balsamic Glazed Salmon to some of the usual seafood suspects, including fish-and-chips, both fried shrimp and fried oyster dinner platters, and jumbo crabcakes.

While the seafood choices continue onto the sandwich menu to feature the Fins’ Lobster Roll, fish tacos, buffalo shrimp and fried oyster po’ boys, and more, there’s also plenty of sandwich and entrée choices for land-lovers, with dishes such as Chicken Marsala or center-cut filet mignon, honey bourbon chicken sandwich, half-pound burger and a full menu of soups and salads.

As always, one of the most popular draws has been the Fins raw bar, offering up freshly shucked selections of oysters, clams and signature shooters cocktails to go along with steamed oyster, clam, shrimp, mussels and combo options as well.

Favorites on the appetizer menu included Fins’ tuna nachos with fresh ahi tuna, house-made guacamole and honey-wasabi aioli; chorizo cheese fries; Fins’ Homemade Crab Dip; flash-fried calamari, oysters and lobster tails; and fried green tomatoes, just to name a few.

Big Oyster brews and more on tap

No matter the menu selection, the Fins team is well equipped to recommend something from the newly revamped wine list for pairing, or one of the local brews from their draft rotation.

There was something on tap for everyone during opening weekend, with selections from Fins’ Big Oyster Brewing Company, such as the Solar Power Belgian blonde Witbier, fruit-forward hopped POW! (as in “right in the kisser”) and traditional throwback Bonnethead Pale Ale.

When the new 15-barrel, 80-seat brew pub launches in Lewes, Big Oyster brews in cans will be available as well.

As for the rising tide, even with the new ventures on the horizon, Hamer and his team are ready to establish themselves as part of their new community in Bethany, the same way they always have before — whether it’s through creating new jobs that can one day become careers or donating to the Fisher House and other military organizations, as they do with their north locations, and “Make a Difference Monday” fundraisers, as they do in Berlin.

“Each community is different and has its own needs. That’s always an important part of our mission is to give back,” said Hamer. “We feel like the more ventures we get into, the more jobs we can provide the community. A lot of our general managers now started off as bus-people or dishwashers. Everybody works their way up.

“We’re a family. People stick around for a long time. We offer plenty of opportunity for growth, and we like to promote from within — that’s one of our philosophies,” added Rovinske. “‘Fins fam for life.’ That’s the motto.”

Fins Ale House & Raw Bar is located at 33544 Market Place, south of Bethany Beach. The restaurant is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner and will stay open year-round. For more information, visit their website at www.finsrawbar.com or their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/finsalehousebethany, or call the restaurant at (302) 539-3467.

Coastal Point • Shaun M. Lambert: Kevin Martin and Stephanie Baker show off some of the new menu items at Taco Taco.They’re doing it quick. They’re doing it simple. They’re doing it the customer’s way.

And now, they’re doing it for breakfast, too.

Kevin Martin and Stephanie Baker first introduced their “good food fast” philosophy to Millville with Taco Taco in the winter of 2016, enjoying a successful first summer season while offering up “fresh Mex” fare for both lunch and dinner, whether dining in or ordering out.

That’s the same concept that Taco Taco will stay true to this summer, with the addition of the all-new a.m. menu-options making their burrito-board debut by popular demand.

“Just about anything that you could want for breakfast, we’ve got it here,” said Kevin Martin. “Everyone who’s tried it has had nothing but good things to say. People are coming back. We’ve even had people come in from California and the Southwest and tell us that it was the best breakfast burrito they’ve ever had.”

“We come in for breakfast all the time,” added Rebecca Chandler, part of the team at All About U Salon & Spa next door, who have been Taco Taco regulars since the beginning. “My go-to omelet is the veggie. The breakfast burritos are on point, too. And Kevin and Steph are great — very friendly, very fun, always a good laugh.”

Starting at 6:30 a.m., beachgoers and Taco Taco regulars alike can head in for a cup of fresh brewed coffee and chose from an array of early-morning options, such as breakfast burritos served with crispy homefries, three-egg omelets or just a good old American breakfast sandwich served on a bagel, toast or English muffin.

Meat options include chorizo, bacon and sausage, but South of the Border meets Sussex County with Rappa scrapple and Taylor’s pork roll added to the lineup.

Ordering is made to be simple, with burritos and omelets typically wrapped up with peppers, onion, pico de gallo and either American, cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese; but adding on sides — including the house-made guacamole or melted queso dip — is more than cool with the Taco Taco crew, too.

“We’re easy. You can mix it up if you want,” said Martin. “The eggs are cracked right in front of you. The scrapple and chorizo and the sausage are all cooked right on the grill. Fresh brewed coffee. It’s just worth it to be able to offer good, fresh products.”

Breakfast is available all day, but there are also some new happenings when it comes to the lunch menu this summer, too.

Ordering been further streamlined for tacos, burritos, salad bowls and quesadillas, with either “Baha style” or “traditional” options, and Taco Taco’s new “Big Kids” menu features cheeseburgers, hot dogs and grilled cheese, all served with a side of french fries.

Sides of house-made salsa, guac, chile con queso, tortilla chips, Spanish rice and beans, and black bean soup are all still available, and cooler drinks, including Jaritos sodas, Mexican Coca-Cola, Gatorade and juices, have been added for on-the-go ordering as well.

As for new dessert options, Martin said that it was the house-made tres leches that takes the cake.

Right now, Taco Taco is open Monday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., but they will stay open until 7 p.m. starting Tuesday, June 13. The restaurant will stay open through the winter for breakfast and lunch, and offers both indoor and outdoor seating, as well as call-ahead ordering.

Taco Taco is located at 35831 Atlantic Avenue (Route 26) in Millville, across the street from Atlantic Auto Repair and Lord Baltimore Elementary School. For more information or a full menu, visit www.tacotaco.us or www.facebook.com/tacotacofastfreshmex, or call the restaurant at (302) 829-8024.

Coastal Point photos • Shaun M. Lambert: Owners Darin Dryden and Adam Lehman show off some of Top Dog Grill's offerings.They may not be saving the skies in the 1986 action-thriller “Top Gun,” but Darin Dryden and Adam Lehman might as well be Goose and Maverick when it comes to saving Bethany Beach from what they see as the usual options of boardwalk dining — and their mission to serve up the town’s “Top Bun.”

With Dryden’s experience in business and Lehman’s in the culinary arts, the two long-time friends teamed up last summer with the aim of offering the area something new, opening the doors to Top Dog Grill in June of 2016.

“We’re trying to offer a good, affordable option in Bethany, and trying to do it a little differently than everybody else,” said Lehman.

“It’s something that we’ve wanted to do for a while,” added Dryden. “Both of us are here every day. He’s got the culinary background. I’ve got the business background. My wife’s an accountant, she does the books. It’s a good team.”

Located just off Garfield Parkway, next to Atlantic Shoals Surf Shop, in the heart of downtown Bethany — just as their name suggests, Top Dog Grill features a wide-selection of specialty hotdogs, corndogs and beer-battered brats.

Whether it’s the Delmarva Dog with homemade crab dip and Old Bay; the Cowboy dog with barbecued pork, homemade slaw, onion and bacon; or the Seattle-style dog, with cream cheese and fried onions, the Top Dog duo prides themselves on using fresh quality products just as much as they do the uniqueness of their concept.

The buns are delivered fresh daily from Liscio’s Italian Bakery in South Jersey, while the sides, sauces and dressings are all made in-house using local ingredients whenever possible, and even the footlongs are 100 percent all-beef.

“It’s grilled to perfection, the bread is nice and fresh — everything is just fantastic,” said Bethany resident Audrey McCarthy, who was introducing her parents to their first Top Dog experience during a recent visit from New Jersey. “This is my second time here. I came in for Memorial Day weekend and had a hotdog that was fabulous.”

“We’ve got the Chicago-style, the New Yorker, Seattle… the Sonora is a New Mexico-style… the Delmarva,” Lehman went on, explaining that the menu includes a “build-your-own” option as well. “We tried to do some regional things, and then we tried to do some just creative things, too.”

But dogs done differently isn’t the only thing being differently done at Top Dog Grill.

Interestingly enough, both Dryden and Lehman said that despite the handle, since the beginning, Top Dog’s tacos have been just as popular with customers as the dogs.

The menu features 10 styles of taco available on either flour or corn tortilla, all with homemade works, including pico de gallo, pickled onion and Top Dog’s signature ranchero sauce.

The pick of the list so far includes both the shrimp and Mahi-Mahi fish tacos — each additionally garnished with signature house slaw and crema, and available blackened, fried or grilled.

The Hawaiian pork taco, with house slaw, sweet-and-sour cabbage and pineapple salsa has also gotten its fair share of the limelight since getting added to the menu, which also features the more usual taco-type suspects, including shredded chicken or beef, pulled pork and chorizo-and-potato, also all available either on their own or as part of a combo, and topped accordingly.

There’s plenty of choices for veggie fans too, as Top Dog offers up both veggie and tofu tacos, as well as a variety of homemade pitas and falafel, and creations such as the grilled Mexican street corn, to name a few.

“We have a lot of vegetarian options — the falafel is homemade here,” said Lehman. “The street corn was actually inspired by what I saw down in Mexico — I’ve taken a few trips there and got to try it out a few times. We dressed it up a little bit and did it our own way.”

“We’ve had really good reviews on everything since we opened,” added Dryden of the response to the menu so far, and of Top Dog’s five-star rating from more than 30 reviews on Yelp.

While their mission to do something new has certainly taken flight for the wingmen at Top Dog, they’re still coming through with some hometown favorites for their hometown residents, too.

Whether dining inside or out — or ordering out during a grab-and-go break from the beach — boardwalk classics, including handcut french fries, fried clam strips, kid’s menu items and fresh-squeezed lemonade, all make an appearance on the menu.

For the regulars, Dryden and Lehman aim to continue their mission of continuing to spice things up with ever-changing specials based on what’s coming in fresh and what direction the creative compass in the kitchen is pointing next.

“I think we needed something like this here. It’s different — it’s a nice change,” McCarthy said. “The first thing I told my parents when they said they were coming to visit was, ‘We’ve got to go to Top Dog to get a hotdog for lunch — you are going to love this place.’”

Top Dog Grill is located at 115 Garfield Parkway, Unit 2, between Shore Foods and Atlantic Shoals Surf Shop, on the main strip in downtown Bethany Beach. The shop is open seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

For more information, or a full menu, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/topdoggrill.1 (their menu is their cover photo) and keep up with specials on Instagram by following Top Dog @topdoggrill. To place an order for pick-up, call the restaurant at (302) 829-8571.

Identity-theft prevention and giving back to the community are two main goals of County Bank’s community shred event on Friday, June 16.

Members of the community will have an opportunity on Friday to bring up to three banker-sized boxes of paper, per person, to the bank’s Millville branch, to shred free of cost. The event will take place from noon until 3 p.m., and individuals are being encouraged by the bank to bring canned food donations.

Jason Moshier, the marketing and public relations officer for County Bank, has been coordinating the event for four years.

“We have a lot of people who are moving to the community and are bringing with them a lot of things that need to be securely and confidentially removed,” Moshier said.

Over the years, Moshier said, hundreds of community members have utilized the free shred events to dispose of unwanted documents. He emphasized that most of those documents contain information about the individuals that can make them vulnerable to identity theft. He said the free shred events can reduce the potential for that information to be stolen.

He said the Millville branch of County Bank has seen a huge turnout during prior shredding events.

“I stopped counting after 50 cars at all of the shred events,” Moshier said. “I just stop.”

With that expected large turnout of people in mind, the bank is also highlighting the request for community members to bring canned goods, which will be donated to local food banks. Moshier said the food will not go to the Delaware Food Bank, but instead will be distributed to local food pantries, based on the location of the bank holding the event.

The Millville branch has been sending donations to Mariner’s Bethel United Methodist Church in Ocean View. The church then will most likely redistribute the food to various other organizations, said Moshier.

“It’s not a sales pitch — it’s a service,” Moshier said as a final note about why he feels the event is an important way for County Bank to give back to the community.

County Bank is located at 36754 Old Mill Road in Millville. For more information, call (302) 537-0900.

Coastal Point photo • Shaun M. Lambert: Cassidy Baker, left, and Brittany Baker show off one of the 3BB Cafe's new homemade ‘cake-pops’ and croissants. The name Three Blonde Bakers was already all but famous along the Bethany Beach boardwalk, whether it be for their scoop selection of Vanderwende Farm Creamery classics or ever-changing array of off-the-wall homemade fudge flavors.

But the now-officially-baking blonde Bakers are no longer just fudging around when it comes to that name being literal, recently launching their latest boardwalk venture with the 3BB Café in the space right next door.

“Cassidy has always wanted to open up her own bakery,” said Brittany Baker of her younger sister and Baker-family baking authority, Cassidy Baker, who learned her trade at Ruthie’s Bakery in Bethany. “When the Orhelein’s [Michael and Hope] told us that they were moving the gallery across the mall, we knew we had to go for it.”

“People would always come up and asked about baked goods, with the name,” added Cassidy Baker with a laugh. “It’s definitely nice to finally have an established bakery now.”

While the original 3BB (a.k.a. “3BB OG”) has been able to feature select baked goods since opening up shop on Garfield Parkway in downtown Bethany two summers ago, this summer the 3BB Café will take things to a whole new level with a whole new concept.

Not only will Cassidy Baker heat things up with a full menu of homemade baked goods, ranging from doughnuts and muffins to “cronuts” and “cruffins,” but Brittany Baker will bring her own signature twist to the café with a full menu of specialty coffee and tea drinks and fresh, local, açai bowls as well.

“We still have The ‘OG’ bowl, but now we have a build-your-own section and a bunch of other bowls, too,” explained Brittany Baker, noting that the 3BB Café concept was inspired by her travels to Puerto Rico and time spent working as a barista at Café to Go in Rincon. “This is the kind of thing that I love to do.”

Along with The OG, açai bowl options at 3BB include new additions, such as “The Dragonfruit” with blended pitaya, pineapple, strawberries and coconut water topped with granola, strawberries, chia seeds; “The Pineapple Express,” with blended pitaya, mango and pineapple and passionfruit juice, topped with granola, coconut, and chia seeds; and the house-special “3BB Bowl,” with blended açai, blueberries, mango and passionfruit, and topped with granola, coconut and peanut butter.

The ingredients are coming as fresh and local as possible as well, from local farms, including strawberries from Magee Farms, and blueberries and peaches from Bennett Orchards.

The 3BB Café drink list includes everything from specialty drinks, such as the café con leche, Red-eye and Rincon-inspired Cortado, to lattes, cappuccinos, espresso and macchiatos, to iced and frozen drinks — all made with fair-trade, organic beans from the Chesapeake Bay Roasting Co.

There’s also plenty of specialty tea options available hot, cold or frozen — and, of course, just a good old fashioned cup of regular Joe, too.

“We’re trying to make it as quick and easy as possible for people to come in to grab a coffee on the go,” said Brittany Baker. “Cassidy’s got the latte art down — she can do the ‘3BB’ at the top, she can make hearts and waves, everything.”

As for the baked goods made fresh every morning, options include not only croissants, scones, crumb cakes and cinnamon buns, but also cupcakes, brownies, cake-pops, cookies and more.

“We’re coming in and baking everything that you see, in the morning,” said Brittany Baker. “We already had doughnuts and some things like that, but now we’re really doing it — the cruffins and cronuts have been really popular already.”

There’s also plenty of other on-the-go items, such as local Dutch waffle cookies from the Joost Waffle Co., fresh fruit, jams, granola and breakfast bars, cooler drinks to take back to the beach and even event catering available through their new Baker baked-goods’ catering company, Sea Baked: Salty Sweet Creations.

Despite all the new and name-literal offerings at the new and name-literal 3BB Café, however, all the Three Blonde Bakers’ favorites are still available at the “OG” 3BB right next door, too.

“We’ve just been going with the flow and seeing where this takes us,” said Cassidy Baker. “Everything feels a lot more real now. We’re not rookies anymore.”

The 3BB Café is located at 107 Garfield Parkway in downtown Bethany Beach, right next to Breakers Surf Shop. The shop is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends.

For more information, check out the Three Blonde Bakers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thefudgefactorybb or on Instagram at the handle “@threeblondebakers.” To inquire about catering from “Sea Baked,” contact Cassidy Baker at saltysweetcreationsbb@gmail.com.

Coastal Point photo • Shaun M. Lambert: Sandy Pony owners Brea Reeves and Ben Wang, top, show off a dozen of their made-to-order donuts.They may have been still dodging rice, but for the young newlywed couple, it was time to make the doughnuts.

After saying their “I do’s” on June 3, Ben Wang and Brea Reeves were off to the Bethany Beach area just one week later, for the grand opening of their new food truck, Sandy Pony Donuts, on Saturday, June 10, trading in a honeymoon suite for a sweet honeymoon.

“You could say this is our honeymoon,” said Reeves, with a laugh. “We literally are together every second of every day now.”

“Hey, it was her decision to want to work with me,” added Wang, joking back. “I’m probably the harder one to work with, because I always manage to get in the way somehow. But it’s just always worked out.”

While it may just recently be official, marriage-document-wise, the longtime couple and unofficial doctors of dough are by no means strangers to working side by side, battering together for better or worse for going on the last half-decade.

In fact, the Bethany-area shop, next to Atlantic Shoals Surf Shop on Route 1, is actually the third stop on the Sandy Pony Express — the original location opening up in Chincoteague, Va., (also next to the original Atlantic Shoals) now three years ago and second location in Annapolis, Md., being added soon after.

Put simply, when it comes to Sandy Pony, this ain’t their first rodeo.

“We have definitely learned a lot over the last couple of years,” said Reeves of the partnership. “We couldn’t do it alone. We have to have each other.”

“That first summer was kind of when I knew, ‘Hey, I could marry this girl,’” added Wang. “This truck is actually double the size of the one in Chincoteague, though, so that helps, too.”

After making it work long-distance for the first two years of the relationship, the then 24-year olds and recent college grads decided to take the next step and go into business together, with the idea to make doughnuts on-demand in the summer of 2014.

Wang had always been his own boss, starting his own building company in Annapolis out of college — skills he put back to use to build all three Sandy Pony trucks by hand before Reeves went on to design each one’s layout. Reeves had been working as a photographer for NASA in Wallops Island, Va., after college, but when the first truck caught on sooner than expected, she started making doughnuts full time.

“Ben gets a good idea, he makes it happen,” said Reeves. “We just kind of tested [the doughnuts] out. As the summer went on, we kept saying to each other, ‘Hey, this would be really good with this’ and coming up with new ideas.”

From the ‘Sweet 16’ to the ‘27 Club’ (also, açai bowls)

Since starting out with the original sweet 16, Sandy Pony is now saddled with 26 different doughnut options, all available hot and fresh for fans of “hole foods,” as well as an additional fan favorite on the “secret menu” exclusively for loyal customers and stayed-golden pony-boys (and girls) in the know… (Ask about the “King Neptune.”)

Cake-for-breakfast can be as simple as pie with the basic “Raw,” or “Ms. Sandy” with cinnamon-sugar, but customers are free to get glazed without confusion along a menu board featuring so-far favorites such as the “Porky Pony,” with honey-glaze, cinnamon-sugar and bacon; “Dirty Banana,” with banana glaze and Oreo crumble; “Strawberry Stallion,” with strawberry glaze and powdered sugar; “Salted Caramel,” with caramel glaze and pretzels; Wang’s own-personal favorite, “Charlie Brown,” with peanut butter glaze and mini chocolate chips; and Reeves’ go-to “Yabba Dabba Doo-Nut,” with honey glaze and Fruity Pebbles, just to name a few.

Customers are also free to customize from the selection of made-from-scratch original glazes and an array of toppings, all available by the dozen, half-dozen or any other quantity, odd-numbered or no.

For health nuts looking for something aside from doughnuts, Sandy Pony is also putting its signature spin on the açai bowl — a brand new menu item unique to the Bethany location only.

“Ours our a little bit different,” said Reeves. “We shave our bowls, rather than blend them. It actually stays colder longer, so on those hot 100-degree days, it’s not just melting away.”

“The açai bowls have been big for us so far,” added Wang of the custom bowls available with fresh fruit toppings and crunchy granola. “At each location, we try to do a second extra thing. Chincoteague, we do snow cones. In Annapolis, we do bubble tea. And then, here, we’re doing açai bowls.”

They’re also serving up fresh-brewed coffee from City Dock Coffee out of Annapolis, as well as chai tea and plenty of cooler drinks, including juices and chocolate milk for the kids.

Less about making dough, more about the local nuts

Often, while he’s on a mid-day stroll around the harbors of Annapolis, someone will stop Ben Wang and say, “Hey — you’re the doughnut guy!”

Similarly, Reeves is known simply as “the doughnut lady.”

However, despite both graduating from nearby Salisbury University, neither knew much about the Bethany Beach area or its local residents before getting to town.

As soon as they opened up the window on their first day in business, however, that all began to change.

“I was just outside and I just met these people, and now I already have two workout partners,” said Wang with a laugh, of his new friends who offered to let him use their home gym nearby. “The small-town feel is great. Our customers are becoming our friends. Everyone is congratulating us about getting married. It’s a cool feeling.”

“Everyone has been super-super-nice,” added Reeves. “This is the first place that we’ve ever gone where we didn’t really know anybody or anything, but so far everyone here has been really welcoming.”

Now able to spend all their time in Bethany, with a loyal veteran crew minding the stores in Annapolis and Chincoteague, for the recently-hitched honeymooners, getting to know the community through something as simple as a doughnut is what it’s all about.

“The best part is meeting people. I just like to talk to people and hear their story,” said Wang.

“We want to become the town’s local doughnut shop. When I see the line out the door and smiles and kids running around, and families happy, and older couples taking a bite out of one of our doughnuts and telling us, ‘This is how it used to be when I was a kid’ — that’s what it’s all about. It’s just the best feeling. It’s just like, ‘Wow, how does it get any better than this?’”

Sandy Pony Donuts is located at 33230 Coastal Highway, just south of the Sea Colony Market place and right next to Atlantic Shoals Surf Shop on Route 1, south of Bethany Beach. The truck is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, or a full menu, visit www.sandyponydonut.com or check out Sandy Pony on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sandyponydonuts and Instagram at their handle “@sandyponydoughnuts.”

Coastal Point • Shaun M. Lambert: The chefs at the new Bluecoast in Rehoboth from left, Scott Viselli, Doug Ruley and Jason Diettrick.Choosing the right menu took about 10 months. Choosing the right blueprint for their now 10th restaurant took nearly that long, too.

But even with the layout designed entirely around the restaurant’s open kitchen — setting the stage for the chefs of SoDel Concepts more so than ever before — choosing the right chefs for the job took hardly any time at all for SoDel Concepts President Scott Kammerer and Vice President/Corporate Chef Doug Ruley.

“It was important to us to make the open kitchen a focal point, so you could see the action and from every seat,” said Kammerer of the new Bluecoast location on Route 1 in Rehoboth Beach, which celebrated its grand opening earlier this month.

“An open kitchen connects you more to the food and connects you more to the chefs. We’re a chef-driven company at SoDel Concepts. The chefs are the stars — and these are three of our biggest.”

Along with Ruley overseeing operations, the second location of the company’s first-ever venture (the original Bluecoast north of Bethany) will feature longtime SoDel veterans Scott Viselli and Jason Diettrick to headline the nightly show.

A native of Newark, N.J., now living in Ocean View, Diettrick has been with the company since getting his start in the culinary arts at 18, skyrocketing through the ranks to be put in charge of two restaurants by 21 and most recently holding the head chef position at Ocean View’s Northeast Seafood kitchen and Bluecoast Bethany.

Viselli grew up in Northern Virginia, where he ran his own restaurant and seafood market, eventually making his way to Delaware in 2011 before getting his start with SoDel as the sous-chef at Catch 54 near Fenwick Island.

It wasn’t long after that he’d be called upon to take over as the head chef at Papa Grande’s right next door, going on to be named Coastal Style magazine’s Sussex County Chef of the Year in 2015 after taking over at The Cove at Bayside.

With that kind of experience, it’s no surprise that the sailing has been more than smooth for the culinary “dream team” behind the limelighted-line of the restaurant’s new state-of-the-art kitchen. That’s despite averaging upwards of 500 guests and breaking company records nearly every night since opening the doors in Rehoboth in early June — all the while living up to the name of a restaurant once named one of the Top 10 destination restaurants in America by Attaché magazine.

“The first night we opened, it was like we had been open for a whole year. That’s how it felt,” said Ruley of the leadership from both Diettrick and Viselli. “They both have a lot of experience — Jason has been with us forever, Scott’s been with us for years now — and they’re just both guys that have proven themselves and that we know we can count on.”

What’s new at Blue

While the chefs may be the stars, Kammerer said the vision for what’s been a brand new concept for SoDel was to be able to offer something for everyone.

Whether it’s sitting down for a dozen oysters at the raw bar, going elbows-up on a double-stack burger and a local craft beer during happy-hour, heading outside to the fire pit to enjoy live music five nights a week with a four-legged friend (even pets are welcome on the patio), fine-dining with the grandparents in the restaurant’s “library,” or even just stopping in for lunch before heading back to the beach, Bluecoast Rehoboth aims to cater to locals and visitors alike, while at the same time carrying out the tradition for which SoDel Concepts has become famous.

“We wanted to build a timeless, classic restaurant with quintessential Delaware seafood that would be able to serve generations of families — beautiful, simple food,” Kammerer explained. “We wanted it to be a restaurant that was accepting and open for a lot of different uses.”

“It’s definitely new,” added Ruley. “The outside is something we haven’t really ever gotten into before. Where else can you go play shuffleboard, cornhole — there’s a basketball out there, for some reason — we’ve got the fire pit, stage for live music, and then you can bring your dog on the patio.”

Of course, for die-hard fans of the original, it isn’t all uncharted waters. There are still plenty of SoDel signature classics on the menu, too.

Some of the past Bluecoast hits include the twin buttermilk fried baby lobster tails with spicy mayo and ponzu, steamed shrimp dumplings and the grilled veal meatloaf with redskin mashed potatoes and veal jus.

Then there’s tributes to some of the other favorite dishes from some of the other favorite SoDel spots, including Northeast making an appearance with the NESK fried chicken, Rehoboth Avenue’s Lupo Di Mare inspiring the lobster cavatappi topped off with white cheddar béchamel and truffle, as well as an array of other pasta dishes, and even Papa Grande’s fresh-squeezed lime and agave margaritas making a menu cameo on the drink list.

“Coastal Classics” on the entree menu include the crab imperial-stuffed jumbo shrimp, fried oyster or fried fresh-catch platter with hand-cut french fries and house-made coleslaw, jumbo-lump crabcakes and fresh-daily softshells (a house favorite so far). And surf-less turf options include the slow-cooked pork chops and ribeye topped with fried egg, among others. There’s a full kid’s menu, too.

Happy-hour runs Monday through Friday, with specials at the bar, and much like the Bethany location, Bluecoast Rehoboth features an extensive wine list and full bar stocked with plenty of specialty cocktails, including the watermelon crushes and seasonal sangria, as well as local craft beers from Dogfish Head out of Milton, Mispillion River from Milford and RAR Brewing out of Cambridge, Md., just to name a few.

At the raw bar, be sure to hashtag #SODELSHUCKS when ordering fresh-daily local oysters and clams, oyster shooters, chilled crab claws, scallop sashimi or the “Sussex Style Caviar.” And whether it’s a late-night libation from the drink menu’s selection of ports and cordials, or an after-dinner indulgence, such as the key lime pie, warm cinnamon bread pudding or caramelized orange and honey crème brûlée, there’s something for fans of both “True Blue” and “New Blue” throughout the lineup.

Considering the lineup in the kitchen, however, unsurprisingly, it’s been the making of that menu that’s been the main attraction.

Dinner and a show

It’s no secret that Ruley, Diettrick and Viselli have all seen their fair share of the spotlight throughout the culinary careers — whether it be displaying their latest dessert at the annual Girl Scout Cookie Throwdown, being featured at the James Beard House in New York (Ruley, three times) or even just putting on their own personal episodes of “Iron Chef” nightly throughout the open kitchens of Northeast and Papa Grande’s.

But the open kitchen at Bluecoast Rehoboth has opened up a whole new way for the faces of SoDel to interface with their guests directly.

“It’s an amazing kitchen. I definitely feel at home here,” said Viselli. “When you’re back there and you can look out the window — no matter how busy you are — and actually get to see somebody enjoying their food, and the smile on their face, for me it definitely makes it all worthwhile.”

“We want to kind of put on a show,” added Ruley. “The hot seat right now is sitting in front of the raw bar — that’s where people want to be. They want to be able to see the action. But, honestly, from any seat in this restaurant you can see everything that’s going on.”

And so far, there’s been plenty of action going on to see.

Behind the SoDel Concepts reputation, it almost goes without saying that the new 4,500-square-foot Rehoboth restaurant, capable of seating 250 guests, can get busy — even for the most seasoned of chef.

But when the line hits full stride, the chef team at Bluecoast trade in the smiling faces of customers to look to another face for inspiration — one that, admittedly, probably wouldn’t be smiling much if there were dishes yet to be plated to perfection during the dinner hour.

‘The King is gone, but not forgotten’

It’s been nearly three years since SoDel Concepts founder and worldwide philanthropist Matt Haley passed away after a motorcycle accident during a humanitarian mission in Nepal.

But even in a brand new restaurant, his presence still looms as large, as it always had before for the chefs who once worked alongside him.

The pieces are everywhere.

On display in the dining room hangs the original menus from Haley’s first restaurant, Red Fin (which eventually became Bluecoast).

Recalling a particular dish from 3rd Edition during Haley’s early days as a chef there, Diettrick suggested that they add their own twist before adding the 3rd Edition spicy-chili chicken wings to the Bluecoast menu as an homage.

The jar of dried curry leaves he once gave to Ruley is on proud display on the line, and while they all may feel him watching over them anyway, his picture hangs above the kitchen, too — smiling bright even during times he himself may not have been.

“That’s just Matt — that’s just who he was,” said Diettrick with a laugh. “It’s always been one of Matt Haley’s visions, is to have open kitchens. You hear the pots and pans, you hear the chatter of the chefs — it just creates a different atmosphere as soon as you walk in the door. There’s still a part of Matt in all of us that have worked with him.”

“His picture is right above my station,” added Viselli. “We’re an extremely busy restaurant, so to know that he’s always right there, staring at me — it’s really like he’s right there staring at me. You’re not going to give up, and you’re not going to send out a dish that isn’t perfect, because you know he wouldn’t have either.”

For Ruley, even as the corporate chef and vice president of a now double-digit number of restaurants and with all of his experience in the culinary arts, Haley is still there with him, too — not only as mentor, but as reminder of what’s really important, and why they do what they do.

“We have the curry leaves that he had given us on the line. We have his picture above us in the kitchen, so we have him with us, he’s there,” said Ruley. “For me, when it gets intense and it gets busy, to know that you could be gone in a split second like that — it kind of brings you back and gives you perspective.

“I think that Matt would definitely be proud of what’s going on with the company and what we’ve done here, and I know he’d be proud of Scott — he’s really stepped up to lead in a big way.”

Sussex County’s Next Top Chef

After the summer winds down, Ruley will hand over the reins for Diettrick and Visielli to continue leading on in Rehoboth while he prepares for whatever the future holds next for SoDel Concepts — all the while looking for the next generation of potential star chefs ready to earn their way to one day running a show of their own.

At Bluecoast, Diettrick and Visielli will do the same.

After all, it’s the SoDel concept of finding the right chefs for the right restaurant and continuing to pass the culinary torch that’s allowed them to continue to grow as a company and continue on their mission to “make beautiful, simple food” while making the communities that they’re part of — and the world beyond — “a better place.”

“The opportunities are there for the right person that wants it,” said Diettrick. “We surround ourselves with those kind of people that want that same thing and have that same drive — that we already know will succeed and become something big in this company.”

“For me, SoDel is pretty much proof that, if you work hard, it pays off,” added Viselli. “They take care of their employees and provide the right opportunities. The work you put in comes back to you.”

While Diettrick and Visielli are already doing their part to mentor young chefs, such as their sous-chef Charlie “The Firecracker” Moronski, as he tries to pave his way to a similarly successful career with the company, for them, it’s not the limelight and the accolades or the awards that keep them going.

Mostly, it still comes down to the reason that they started out as chefs in the first place.

“It’s never really been my thing,” Visielli said of seeking out recognition. “Don’t get me wrong — to be honored with something like the Chef of the Year award and to be recognized with so many other local chefs is amazing but it’s not why I do it — I just love what I do.”

“That’s why we have guys like Scott in our company. They’re humble. They want to come in and work, there’s no egos,” said Ruley. “We have the vision and we have the plan, and we like to bring people in that subscribe to the same plan that we have — that’s basically just to cook good food for good people.”

As for Kammerer, he said he’s just excited to see three of the company’s best doing what they do best as a team.

“I feel like we’ve just been really blessed to have such an amazing collection of talent here. Scott, Jason and all these guys have so many accolades and so many awards that they’ve won, they’ve all done all of these amazing things, and now they’re coming in here together and working as a cohesive unit,” Kammerer said.

“It’s all about the team and it’s all about the food. I couldn’t be more proud of them, and I’m just really honored to be able to work with them and be a part of what they’re doing.”

Bluecoast Seafood Grill & Raw Bar in Rehoboth is located at 30115 Veteran’s Way, directly off of Route 1, in front of the Fresh Market.

The restaurant is open seven days a week and will stay open year-round. For more information, call the restaurant at (302) 278-7395, visit their website at www.bluecoastrehoboth.com or visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bluecoastrehoboth. For a full list of SoDel Concepts restaurants, or information on Plate Catering or SoDel Cares, visit www.sodelconcepts.com.

Coastal Point • Shaun M. Lambert: The crew at Sedona is ready to celebrate their 25th anniversary this summer with some all new offerings in Bethany Beach.It’s a greeting as simple as it is signature.

On every warm summer night since 1993, Marian Parrott has welcomed every one of her guests in the same warm way: “Good evening, and welcome to Sedona.”

With the award-winning Bethany Beach restaurant currently celebrating its 25th anniversary, Parrott will lend the familiarity of the phrase to the title of her upcoming opus, “25 Years of Good Food & Good Evenings.”

But while the book will be a celebration of the restaurant’s past — even getting into the location’s World War II days as the Collins Tea Room — in honor of their 25th year, the team at Sedona is equally celebrating their future with summer specials, the formation of the “Sedona Social Club” (coming this fall), a revamped menu and a completely renovated restaurant aesthetic.

“We wanted to bring it more in tune with the 21st century and the idea that it is a beach place,” said Parrott — the restaurant’s last remaining original staff member, after starting off as a server in 1993 and eventually taking over ownership in 2008.

Not only is Sedona sporting a new color scheme both inside, throughout the restaurant, and along the building’s exterior, but there’s brand new high-top seating, a new “bump-out” bar and all-new decor to set the mood throughout.

Much of the handiwork was done by Parrott and her daughter, Caitlyn Parrott, who drew much of their inspiration from their long history of worldly travels, most recently including Croatia, Italy and Slovenia over the winter.

The handmade steel-drum fish were picked up from the locals during a trip to South Africa. The cork wall was inspired by a restaurant in Italy and made entirely from Sedona wine corks collected through the years (mostly from the ’90s, because “those are probably the coolest”). There’s plenty of local artwork adorning the walls, and plenty of menu items have been a little bit derived from a little bit of everywhere along the way.

“Every year, I take a trip with my daughters, and we do bring a lot of ideas back from our travels” said Parrott, noting Sedona’s new Mediterranean-inspired octopus dish this summer. “You can’t travel without getting inspiration for something, and I’ve been very fortunate in my life to be able to travel an awful lot.”

While her passport stamps also include China, Nepal and Quebec City (just to name a few), it was during a trip to the West Coast that Parrott had initially come up with the idea for “Tapas Tuesdays” that would eventually lead to Sedona’s signature “small-plate” menu offerings.

From Tapas Tuesdays to menu mainstays

The year was 2010. The market crash of 2008 had finally caught up with Bethany Beach when Marian Parrott had joined some friends from Sussex Shores on an off-season visit to San Francisco, eventually returning home to Sussex County to share her experience with her staff.

“When we got back, the guys thought I was insane,” Parrott recalled the idea with a laugh. “We had gone to a tapas restaurant in Union Square, and that’s where I kind of realized that smaller plates and more variety was the wave of the future.”

Despite the initial hesitation from the team, the “small plates” would go on to become a big hit, and Tapas Tuesday the most popular night of the week, outside of Saturday.

While the menu still offers plenty of the signature entrée options, as it has since the shift to “creative American cuisine” in 2008 — ranging from the pan-seared lump crabcakes to the pan-seared duck breast with broccolini and blueberry reduction and more — just like traveling somewhere new, the shift to small plates has allowed Sedona customers to share the experience of trying something for the first time.

Whether it’s the house-hit Sedona shrimp and grits, veal-stuffed tortellini with blue cheese demi, pan-seared scallops, seared rare tuna with Asian slaw and seaweed salad, the latest featured fresh catch or various charcuterie and cheese plates — it’s often that guests leave with a new appreciation for something they didn’t even know they liked.

“We encourage people to get six or seven for the table and try something new,” Parrott explained. “We are constantly evolving. We change something on our menus once a week, practically, so there’s always something new to try.”

In the way of libations, there’s plenty to try as well

To honor their 25th anniversary, Sedona will offer two select house wine options available nightly for just $25 per bottle throughout the summer, with the list rotating to include some not-so-usual suspects.

“This way we can introduce some of our own favorite wines and give people an opportunity to try something that they may not be super familiar with,” explained Caitlyn Parrott, who manages the bar and also owns the “coastal general store” SALT Provisions on Garfield Parkway.

The anniversary special is in addition to Sedona’s already full bar menu and drink list, further including an extensive wine menu, local craft beers and a specialty drink list headlined by the “Sunshine Susan” martini.

But while there’s plenty to try across the menu that may be unfamiliar, familiarity has always been the focus when it comes to using fresh ingredients from local sources.

“The whole idea is that the best food in the world, no matter where you go, is just what’s local and what’s fresh and how they’ve figured out how to cook it,” Parrott explained.

“We’ve always been about farm-to-table. Even at the very beginning, we bought our herbs from Bob Russell in Milton, I just picked up a bunch of stuff from East View Farms today — you buy peaches from Bennett’s, you buy strawberries from Magee’s and try as much as you can to support local.”

The Sedona Social Club

Just as they aim to support local business, Sedona’s charitable efforts have always aimed to support those in need, both locally and beyond, which Parrott will take one step further with the formation of the Sedona Social Club this fall.

Modeled after similar clubs in New York and Chicago, SSC will host a monthly off-site event for members to not only enjoy an evening of plenty of food and friends, but to raise money for charities in the process.

“It’ll be a tribute to why we love food and why we live here,” Parrott explained. “It’s social, but you’re helping a cause at the same time. I think it will be really fun for people to try something totally different like that.”

The lineup so far includes an outdoor event at James Farm in September, “Octoberfest” with local breweries, and some church and skate action at Epworth Skatepark in Rehoboth, to help feed families for Thanksgiving.

“All of our guys skateboard, so they’re going to literally skate the food in,” said Parrott of her skateboarding chef crew. Other venues could include a night of “love and magic” at the Dickens Parlour Theatre in Millville, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

The club will be free to join.

Always evolving, still the same

From its beginnings as Collins Tea Room, located right on what was then Route 1, to the Southwest cuisine originally inspired by the city that lends the restaurant its name, to its new menu focus and 25th anniversary remodel — Parrott said that even after a quarter-century of honoring the past and bracing for the future, the focus for her and her family at Sedona has always remained about welcoming their guests with good food and good evenings.

“I consider everybody I work with family, and I try to treat them that way. We work together as a team as much as possible,” she explained.

“We try to be a little trendy, but we don’t go overboard. Trends are trends. They come and go. What we have always believed in is the core values of good food, pleasant service, pleasant atmosphere — we just want to provide our guests a nice place to go dine, just like we always have.”

Sedona is located at 26 N. Pennsylvania Avenue in Bethany Beach and is open seven days a week at 5:30 p.m. For reservations or event hosting, call the restaurant at (302) 539-1200, or keep up on the latest from Sedona on Facebook and Instagram (@sedonabethany). For a full menu or to find out more about the Sedona Social Club, visit www.sedona-bethany.com.

Coastal Point • Tyler Valliant: Michael Thanner and ‘Gracie’ are bringing some land and sea style to Fenwick Island.Dress like John F. Kennedy. Speak like Ernest Hemingway. Work like Ralph Lauren. And party like Gatsby.

That’s the mantra of Michael Thanner and the MGT & Co. Toggery, which recently launched in Fenwick Island to offer the “Low Country” a taste of the high life when it comes to premier men’s clothing and the latest in luxury fashion.

While the Ralph Lauren lifestyle and fictitious Jay Gatsby may have been a very real inspiration for Thanner and his new experience-centered men’s boutique, catering to weddings in West Egg isn’t the only focus at MGT & Co.

Whether it’s picking up a dress shirt from Mizzen+Maine for dinner at Just Hooked right next door or a pair of swim trunks from Rhythm for trying to hook dinner at the drive-on beach across the street, the Toggery aims to keep their wide-range of customers covered, literally, with everything from headwear to footwear.

“We’ve got everything you could need from head to toe — there’s something for everyone,,” Thanner said. “It’s classic, it’s American and it’s simple, but at the same time, it’s very unique.”

It was through his various travels that Thanner formed the concept behind what’s become an eclectic selection of contemporary classics at MGT & Co.

But while much of the inspiration stemmed from visits to similarly-themed shops along King Street in Charleston, S.C., living in Manhattan after graduating from college and trekking across the trend-setting cities of Europe, where he spent a semester in the South of France at the Institute of America University, it wasn’t until his most recent trip that the augury for the Toggery made itself known.

au·gu·ry (noun, a sign of what will happen in the future; an omen)

Always the family business, where most kids grew up on cookies and milk, the Baltimore native now calling Sussex County home grew up on trade shows and retail.

While he had long since decided that a typical desk job wasn’t for him, all doubts were put to rest during a particularly impactful visit to London over the holidays this past winter.

“I was in and out of all these stores while I was away, and I was just very inspired by them. It was more about the feel and the atmosphere — the customer service, the friendliness and just enjoying the experience,” Thanner recalled. “That’s when I decided that, when I got home, this is what I was going to do.”

Originally searching out locations throughout Rehoboth Beach and Lewes, he’d soon find a home for MGT & Co. right in his own back yard, when the location next to Just Hooked became available.

Fully realizing a need in the area, Thanner said he knew that it was the opportunity he’d been waiting for.

“It all came full circle,” he said. “It was a perfect location, because there was nothing like this here. My whole thing was I wanted fill a void, but at the same time carry brands that you won’t find at the outlets or other stores in the area. So far, it’s been great — we’ve been very well-received.”

“They provide a higher-end men’s clothing option, so it’s definitely unique to the area,” added area homeowner Neal Brown, who recently added some MGT threads to his wardrobe after his daughters stumbled upon the store just in time for Father’s Day. “Don’t get me wrong — I like wearing board shorts and flip-flops, but when I need something for date-night, they’ve got some stuff that you can’t find at the surf shops.”

Carrying lines from Smathers & Branson, Strongbolt, Castaway and Barber, and Hari Mari sandals, just to name a few, MGT & Co. also carries an array of American-made accessories — including watches, wallets, hats, belts and plenty more.

Soon, they’ll add an on-site tailor for formalwear fittings, to cater to weddings, proms and homecomings, and after attending trade shows in New York City later this month, will continue to keep up with seasonal fashion trends.

But aside from a reason not to brave summer traffic to the outlets of Rehoboth or West Ocean City, it’s the causerie at the Toggery that Thanner said set MGT & Co. apart most.

cau·se·rie (noun, light informal conversation for social occasions)

It starts at the door, where the official MGT & Co. greeter and mascot — a friendly golden retriever named Gracie — waits eagerly to welcome guests.

Then it continues throughout the shop, where it may not quite be a Gatsby party, but where, from the antique classical piano and land-and-sea inspired ambiance to offering up both helpful expertise and refreshments, everything about the MGT & Co. experience is designed with the customer in mind.

“The look of the store was a huge part for me as well. Walking in, it’s just an old-school feeling — I wanted it to be relaxed and welcoming,” Thanner explained.

“You can come in, have a drink, catch up, go next door to Just Hooked and come back, or we’ll have food brought over for you. It’s more about just being comfortable and enjoying the experience. We’re not going to push you into something. If you don’t like it, you don’t like it. We want you to find something that you’re going to like.”

“The store itself is very inviting, and the interior of it is really cool also. We were helped out by Michael himself — and his dog, of course,” Brown added of the experience. “He’s definitely got a nice eye for higher-end men’s apparel.”

Just as Thanner prides MGT & Co. on being able to cultivate a friendly atmosphere, it was the help of his friends that the atmosphere cultivated around — with the camaraderie at the Toggery making it all possible.

ca·ma·ra·de·rie (noun, mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together)

From renovating the showroom to programming the computer systems, it took a village, between family, friends and the guidance from established area entrepreneurs, such as Steve Hagen of the Off the Hook Restaurant Group, before MGT & Co. was ready to open its doors.

“Everyone had something unique that they brought to the table to help out and was very much appreciated,” said Thanner.

“I could not have gotten this store open without the support of all of my friends, my family — Steve Hagen, who helped me out a lot, even just by seeing my vision and believing in it — and everyone else who contributed. It was not done single-handedly. It really did take a team.”

With what was once a dream now fully realized and enjoying early success, Thanner said that, while he may appreciate his time spent traveling to big cities, New York and London will always be there to visit, but the small-town vibe in Fenwick will always be where he calls home.

“That’s the kind of thing that kept me here. What I like about Fenwick is that everyone helps each other — it’s like a synergy,” he said.

“If Just Hooked runs out of straws, they can go over to Warren’s and get straws. If I need something, I can go down to Pottery Place and they’ll help me out. You see familiar faces, and everyone works together in unity. It truly is a small-town vibe and that feeling of being home. People just want to help each other out. Now, MGT & Co. is a part of that, too.”

tog·ger·y (noun, a clothing store)

As for the MGT & Co. mantra, they’re set to prove that you don’t have to be the president to dress like JFK, win the Pulitzer to speak like Hemingway, become an international fashion mogul to work like Ralph Lauren or get the green light to party like Gatsby — but even still, the right clothes can help.

“I definitely think Gatsby would shop here. I think [Ralph Lauren] would probably pop in, too,” said Thanner with a laugh. “If you look good, you feel good. It’s the way you carry yourself — the air of confidence. It’s not about the brand — it’s about the lifestyle.”

MGT & Co. Toggery is located at 1500 Coastal Highway, #2, in Fenwick Island, next to Just Hooked in the Sunshine Plaza Shopping Center.

The store is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. or later seven days a week and will remain open through the off-season. For more information, call the shop at (302) 581-0441 or check out MGT & Co. on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mgtandcompany or on Instagram (@mgt_co_).

Coastal Point • Tyler Valliant: From left, Anchors Aweigh Entertainment owners Jason and Summer Phillips are working with Kingsley Orchards owners Tony and Meghan Morgan on hosting a Family Fun Day at the orchards this weekend.For years, Frankford’s old fruit farm was a jungle of weeds set among the cornfields on Blueberry Lane. Only the birds and the locals knew that, somewhere under the tangle, blueberries were still a hidden treasure.

But now, Kingsley Orchards has re-opened the beloved blueberry patch once known as Ryan’s Berry Farm. The farm had changed hands several times before the Meghan and Tony Morgan family picked it up at a 2016 sheriff sale.

Kingsley is an old family name that stems from Meghan’s paternal family tree. The husband-and-wife team began clearing the land that fall, and Kingsley Orchards opened in mid-June as a you-pick blueberry farm with a retail storefront. So people can venture into the fields or quickly swing by the retail store.

Tony Morgan regularly buys and flips land from sheriff sales. But housing developments flew out of his mind when he actually saw the blueberry bushes, curtained by 10 years of weeds and trees.

“Then we saw the giant delicious blueberries… Then we decided we wanted to try to bring the farm back,” said Meghan Morgan. “After we talked to a lot of the local people, and they remembered how fabulous Ryan’s Berry Farm was … we wanted to bring that back for families.”

“Four people weed-whacked for four months straight to clean this place up,” with advice from the University of Delaware, said Tony Morgan. “The berries are very good because it’s … ‘Burnt Swamp’ across the street.”

Blueberries love the acidic soil leftover from the neighboring Great Cypress Swamp, which burned off and on for years, as early as the 1700s.

“They planted them in the 1950s. … They can live to be 100 years old,” said Meghan Morgan. “We had 8,800 bushes to prune.”

Blueberry Lane is a peaceful road with more farmland than houses. Today, Kingsley Orchards is a 36-acre blueberry farm, a remainder of Tom Ryan’s much larger 1980s berry farm, which was previously the Messick family farm in the 1950s.

The Morgans hope to plant more fruits in the future. (Ryan’s Berry Farm had blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, peaches and nectarines.)

Kingsley Orchards uses minimal pesticides. They said they already have dedicated return customers, and they’ve hosted several field trips for local daycares. It was especially eye-opening for the kids who had never eaten blueberries or gardened before, the couple said. The kids learned about bees and pollination; bounced around on the tractor ride; practiced pruning a tree; and searched for bullfrogs and lily pads in the tax ditches.

Many people love the tractor ride out to the fields.

“We got the history, we got an education. … You can tell the time and love they put into this farm. It’s more than just a tractor ride,” said Summer Phillips of Anchors Aweigh Entertainment. “It’s warm and inviting once you come on the farm.”

Families have loved sharing the experience with their children, just as they did with their own grandparents in years past.

Phillips’ own children were delighted to make desserts with berries they’d picked themselves.

“They knew exactly where those blueberries came from,” she said. “They didn’t just come from the store.”

Children have so much fun in the fields that Morgan must sometimes encourage them back out with promises of toys and ice-pops back at the storefront.

The shop also has recipes for people to create at home with their pints and pallets of fruit. Meghan Morgan favors blueberry lemon cake with cream cheese frosting, served fresh and cold from the fridge.

With the blueberry season nearly at an end, what will Kingsley Orchards do next?

How about some laser tag?

The Morgans will partner with Anchors Aweigh Entertainment to bring the party to the farm. People can hire Anchors Aweigh to help host movie nights, laser-tag parties, archery-tag and inflatables at their own home. But if a person’s back yard is too small, Kingsley Orchards will happily host the event.

The Morgans also envision the farm as a picturesque venue for future weddings and birthday parties. In autumn, the blueberry foliage turns red and orange, creating a cozy atmosphere. The Morgans and the Phillipses said they are excited for the possibilities.

Family Fun Day coming to Kingsley Orchards

Some call it National Blueberry Day.

At Kingsley Orchards, they say it’s a great excuse to throw a party.

On Saturday, July 8, Kingsley Orchards will host Blueberry Family Fun Day, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“We want to celebrate our first season and thank our customers,” said co-owner Meghan Morgan.

Families can enjoy a moon bounce, water slide inflatables, face painting, games and more, all for the cost of a $5 wristband. (Any children using the waterslide must wear a bathing suit with no snaps or buttons.)

The blueberry farm will also have you-pick and its retail store open for business. Vendors will sell food and drinks. Anchors Aweigh Entertainment is co-hosting the event.

Kingsley Orchards is located at 24349 Blueberry Lane in Frankford, about 4.5 miles west of Route 113.

For details, call (302) 732-9567 or visit www.kingsleyorchards.com and www.facebook.com/

They may have recently wrapped up their most successful Fourth of July celebration at Cupola Park in years, but for the town of Millsboro, the fireworks are just getting started.

At the regularly scheduled town council meeting on Monday, July 3, the council approved the preliminary site plans to add German grocer Lidl to the growing list of new businesses bound for Millsboro that so-far include: Lewes Dairy, Farmer’s Bank, Royal Farms, Chick-fil-a and more.

Lidl, a global retailer priding themselves on “customer satisfaction” and “superior quality for the lowest price possible” as top priority has been compared to American chains Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. Now expanding their U.S. presence under the tagline “Our roots are European, but our vegetables are grown here,” Lidl is being eagerly anticipated in communities around the country.

Millsboro Town Manager Sheldon Hudson said bringing in Lidl would fall directly in line with the council’s vision for future development.

“We’re very excited about it,” he said. “This has definitely been something we’ve had on our wish list for a while.”

While plans were still in preliminary stages, Hudson went on to explain that if the process went smoothly, final approval could be made later this summer for Lidl to begin construction opposite Peninsula Crossing on Route 113.

The hope from town officials is to not only add another grocer option for a diversifying demographic of Millsboro residents but to continue to bring more employment options as well.

“That’s a big part of council’s mission, is to see employment growth,” Hudson said. “They’re continuing to stay proactive in their push to make the town not only a more attractive place to visit but also to live.”

With the proposal to raise maximum heights in the commercial zone along Route 113, more hotels could be the next item potentially checked off of the council’s “Big Three” wish-list surrounding economic expansion.

“The goal is to make the town more attractive to hotel developers, so we’re looking at how to make that happen,” Hudson explained of the plan to increase the building height cap from 35 feet to the 50- to 55-foot range, to be able to draw larger hotel chains and better accommodate venues and events such as the Little League Softball World series.

The council is also exploring the possibility of easing billboard restrictions to allow “grandfathered” businesses to annex into town limits and potentially bring even more retail employment options to the town.

But while the continued news of expansion and development may be making a new name for Millsboro, the council is equally determined to honor its past.

“That’s the neat thing about Millsboro, is you have 113, but then you have the history of the downtown area — it doesn’t have to be an either/or situation,” Hudson explained.

“We’re really excited about the future. We also see preserving the town’s history as an important component to downtown revitalization.”

For more on new happenings in Millsboro, or for a full list of upcoming events, check out the Town’s new website at www.millsboro.org.

Data released last week by the Sussex County Association of Realtors (SCAOR) continued to indicate a strong local real estate market in southern Delaware, representatives said this week. The positive sales figures compiled by the trade association for the first half of 2017 showed sustained growth across all segments of the market in the state’s southernmost and largest geographic county, according to SCAOR.

The data is the latest in a string of positive reports for SCAOR, which has now reported years of strong data pertaining to Sussex County’s real estate industry.

“This quarter was especially positive, as Sussex County is buoyed by a large number of summertime visitors and buying activity in the second homeowner market,” said Brigit Taylor, 2017 SCAOR president. “But this month-over-month increase is important to note, as it indicates a continuing interest in our area as a resort destination. Our proximity to the coast is definitely one of our strongest selling points and one that has served us very well for many years.”

Single-family home sales for the months of April, May and June rose in 2017, with 1,473 properties being sold during the quarter. That brings the yearly number of property sales this calendar year to 2,510, which represents more than $841 million in year-to-date sales.

With a 42 percent increase in total units sold over last quarter, home sales continue to rise. The average home in Sussex County in 2017 is selling for more than $335,000.

Additionally, SCAOR reported, Sussex County’s commercial real estate market continues to thrive in 2017, with a 19 percent increase in total units sold in this quarter over the first quarter of 2017, and a 40 percent increase in average price over the same quarter last year. That’s more than $10 million in commercial sales volume in this quarter alone.

“Our proximity to the coastline and our lower tax rates continue to draw people here to Sussex County, and I believe that will continue,” said Taylor. “Our numbers are up, and I think a big reason for that is because residents of other states continue to see Delaware real estate as a strong investment.”

To read more about issues related to Sussex County’s real estate industry, visit SCAOR’s website at www.scaor.com.