The Brandywine Restaurant, a new Wilmington restaurant from Snuff Mill owner, to open soon
An owner of the popular Snuff Mill Restaurant and Wine Bar near Fairfax is opening a restaurant in Wilmington off Pennsylvania Avenue.
Bill Irvin said The Brandywine Restaurant at 2000 Pennsylvania Ave., which he plans to open on Tuesday, Nov. 14, will offer “New American Classic Cuisine."
The 1,700-square-foot restaurant is located on the bottom floor of the 2000 Penn building, which includes luxury apartments and the Santa Fe Mexican Grill. Some may remember the location as the previous site of Michael Christoper Hair Salon, which has moved to Greenville.
The restaurant will feature contemporary twists on traditional dishes such as oysters Rockefeller with Vietnamese fish sauce, and Parker House rolls with everything bagel seasoning. The menu also has chilled raw oysters; crab Louie, $24; jumbo lump crab cakes, $26; roasted chicken breast; $36; Steak Diane, $52; Salmon en Croute, $39; and Beef Wellington for two carved tableside, $138.
According to the website, "the menu reads like a greatest hits of dishes your grandparents probably loved."
"I named the restaurant The Brandywine because first and foremost I love hiking through the woods and along the creek. It takes you to a whole Otherworld that hasn’t changed in many years. Well, they did pave some of the trails," Irvin told Delaware Online/The News Journal.
"When I first moved to Wilmington, searching for a fabulous dining experience was a bit of a challenge. We were blessed with new restaurants that have been built in the last five years, but what was missing was a special place that could take you back to the '50s and '60s classic elegance."
Irvin said he remembers his grandmother taking him to dine at "the great department stores like Hutzler’s in Towson, Maryland, or Barneys in New York that would be filled at lunches with glamorous people and the kindest servers that made you feel like it could be your second home.
"Grandmothers like to pamper their grandchildren and then send them home and that’s exactly the experiences I received with her," he said.
The Brandywine's front and back of the house team has a deep pool of knowledge and has worked at restaurants in Philadelphia; New York; New Orleans; and local Wilmington establishments including Bardea Food & Drink, the former Domain Hudson and the Columbus Inn.
Irvin, a Wilmington resident who was the former president of Phillips Seafood Restaurants and has run more than a dozen restaurants in the Baltimore area, and chef/partner Robert Lhulier opened Snuff Mill Restaurant, Butchery & Wine Bar at 1601 Concord Pike in the Independence Mall Shopping Center near Fairfax in the summer of 2021.
Snuff Mill quickly gained a loyal customer base, was named Restaurant of the Year in 2022 by the Delaware Restaurant Association and its reservation book fills quickly.
Lhulier, a veteran chef of the Delaware dining scene who has worked at former Deep Blue Bar & Grill, Domaine Hudson, Union City Grille and the private University & Whist Club in Wilmington, and operated his own restaurant, The Chef's Table at the David Finney Inn in Old New Castle, is serving as a consultant at The Brandywine Restaurant.
Irvin said Lhulier will work closely with The Brandywine Restaurant's Chef de Cuisine Andrew Cini.
“Andrew is an exceptional chef with a skill for developing flavors,” Lhulier said in a prepared statement. “He knows the clientele and the area, which is a tremendous advantage.”
Cini started his food industry in high school as a host at the old Soffritto Italian Grill in Newark. He later worked at Columbus Inn and Domaine Hudson and was sous chef at Stock and Res Ipsa Café, celebrated Philadelphia restaurants run by Tyler Akin, chef/partner of Le Cavalier restaurant at Wilmington's Hotel du Pont.
Cini also worked at Mezze by Del Fresco in the Market at Liberty Place, a food hall in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, as well as Terrain in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania.
Glennon Travis, the general manager, studied management at Tulane University in New Orleans and helped develop a luxury hotel and restaurant in the Catskill Mountains. He also led hospitality operations at Soho House New York and participated in house openings in the United States and Europe.
Restaurant Beverage Director Chris Unruh most recent stint in Wilmington was at Bardea Food & Drink. The Kennett Square native, whose parents were in the hospitality business, has more than 35 years of experience, including positions at George Perrier’s Le Bec Fin and the renowned Park Avenue Café in New York. He is a graduate of The Wine School of Philadelphia and holds beginner and intermediate sommelier certifications.
Reservations are highly recommended. Visit The Brandywine Restaurant's Facebook page for updates or follow @thebrandywinede on Instagram.
Contact Patricia Talorico at ptalorico@delawareonline.com or 302-324-2861 and follow her on X (Twitter) @pattytalorico Sign up for her Delaware Eats newsletter.
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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Brandywine Restaurant offers dishes your grandparents probably loved
