1776 Steakhouse
Having lived in Rehoboth Beach full-time
for seven years now, I still consider myself a newbie, and I certainly do
not run with downstate movers and shakers, the type who (I thought) ate at
1776 Steakhouse. Much to my surprise, though, when my honey, Sharon, and I
ate there last Friday, we saw several people we knew and we made some new
friends.
Bob Mitchell and Tom Holmes re-opened 1776
Steakhouse in December after the previous owner had caused some local
controversy with an abrupt closing. Mitchell is a well known Sussex
Countian having had several careers: state trooper, retired, furniture
store, retired, restaurant, retired, Florida, un-retired, you get the
picture. Holmes is fairly new to the area, with about four years here,
having moved here from Medford, NJ, where he owned the Noelle restaurant.
They met when Holmes was assistant general manager at Rehoboth Beach
Country Club.
After the 1776 closed last year, Mitchell
and Holmes started looking into whether it might be possible to resurrect
the beloved restaurant. Holmes said that they both agreed they wouldn’t
force the plan. If there were too many difficulties, they would give up.
But as they pursued the project, things “fell into place like it was
meant to be.” They secured the name, space, phone number and key staff
people. After much renovation, training and modifying the menu, the
landlord, vendors and the community were happy to see the restaurant
reopen December 1.
Fast forward to February 1, when Sharon and
I walked in the door on a rainy Friday evening. As soon and I walked into
the foyer and started to hang my coat, I knew I would be in for a treat.
The booming voices from inside were joyful and the coat rack was full.
Sharon and I were seated at a cozy table near the fire where we warmed up
and perused the menu.
Since I had not eaten at 1776 when it was under the former ownership, I
can not compare this experience to that, but I will tell you that we had
an amazing meal and we plan to re-visit 1776 soon.
The menu is very enticing, and we spent a
lot of time reading and re-reading it. There were so many
delicious-looking options. The first thing Sharon said after we both had
been reading the menu for a while was, “Wow. We should have brought more
people with us so we could try more things.”
The lobster-filled black ravioli and
calamari special appetizers, as well as the crab and pumpkin bisque, all
sounded delicious, but we decided to skip the starter course and ordered
the mixed field greens salad. It was served with smoked bacon, huge dried
cherries, and walnuts, all tossed in a maple vinaigrette, but the best
part was that all that sweetness was well-balanced by the generous chunks
of Gorgonzola cheese.
The salad was served with rolls hot out of
the oven. One was covered in poppy and sesame seeds while the other was an
aromatic rosemary roll. When I say hot out of the oven, I mean it. They
were too hot to touch, but I juggled them anyway until they cooled enough
that I could slather them in the tasty honey-herb butter. I enjoyed these
rolls with my salad while honey butter literally dripped down my chin.
My regular readers will be surprised to
hear that we both ordered red wine to accompany our meal. Neither of us
are connoisseurs, but I especially loved the Mark West Pinot Noir that was
dry and fruity. Sharon enjoyed the Steeple Jack Shiraz which had a woodier
flavor.
We ordered the wine because we knew we
would be ordering steak. We were at a steakhouse after all! We briefly
considered trying a non-beef entrée. For those of you out there who
don’t eat meat, please know that there are other options at 1776:
seafood, chicken, pasta and a scrumptious-sounding eggplant parmesan. When
one of the uber-attentive wait staff, Phil, brought over the tray of
steaks and explained the different cuts, though, that sealed the deal. We
both decided to order steak.
I tried the house signature cut, a Barrel
steak. It is basically the center cut from the rib-eye. I am not usually a
fan of the rib-eye, but this Barrel steak looked exactly like a filet
mignon with just a little more marbling. Sharon ordered the filet with a
crab cake on the side. I should mention that all the steaks are served
with your choice of starch (baked potato, mashed potato or wild rice) and
the vegetable of the day. Sharon especially loved the crab cake which was
all lump crab with the thinnest layer of breading on the outside just to
hold it together.
Boy, was I glad I tried that Barrel steak.
Both steaks were flavorful with a nice rub of spices, and drum roll
please… both steaks were perfectly cooked as we’d ordered. We ate in
silence except for groans of pleasure as we swapped bits of the meal to
share. Everything was good, but I can not overstate the deliciousness of
those steaks. The menu attributes the extraordinary tenderness and flavor
of the steaks to the fact that they are “dry aged.” I don’t know
exactly what that means, and I’m not sure I want to know, but I do know
the steaks at 1776 will be calling my name.
After our amazing meal, we chatted with
other diners, owners Bob and Tom, and several of the friendly wait staff.
One of the highlights of our visit was
meeting Chef Tammy Mozingo, formerly of the Royal Zephyr in Ocean View.
She is super cute and lives in Ocean View with her partner and their two
daughters.
The other highlight of our visit was the
cheesecake. Pause. This is the kind of dessert that I’m afraid to
describe because I know I can not do it justice. It is the fluffiest
cheesecake I’ve ever had. It’s sprinkled with sugar and then the sugar
is caramelized with a blowtorch. Yum.
Whether you are a mover-shaker or just a
newbie like me, shake your thing down to the 1776 Steakhouse soon.
1776 Restaurant, located in the Midway
Shopping Center, is open for lunch Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to
3 p.m., and dinner Monday through Saturday 5 to 10 p.m. with Sunday dinner
being served 4 to 9 p.m. The full menu and other information can be viewed
at www.1776steakhouse.net. For
reservations, call 302-645-9355.
|
Back to Top of Page 