Bob Ashby never expected to open a restaurant in Odessa. The seasoned restaurateur’s hands were full with three McGlynns Pub locations and the Deer Park Tavern in Newark. But when he read about plans to open a restaurant in one of the Historic Houses of Odessa properties, his interest was piqued.
“I drove around and thought it was a neat building,” Ashby said of the former hotel and tavern. Another restaurateur, however, was already working on the project with the Historic Odessa Foundation.
A few months later, Ashby got a call from a Realtor. “He said, ‘I have an opportunity for you, if you want to take a look,’” Ashby recalled. The deal with the other restaurateur had fallen through, and the foundation sought a new operator.
“I did a walk-through—it had already been under construction for quite a while—assessed the project, and that’s how it all got started,” he said.
For the public, it will all start the week of Dec. 12, during which Ashby’s latest project, Cantwell’s Tavern, is expected to open in the structure long called the Brick Hotel.
The timing is fortuitous. On Dec. 7, the Delaware Tourism Office launched the Delaware History Trail, a collection of 36 select sites—12 in each county—that includes Historic Odessa.
Delaware Launches the "Delaware History Trail" on Delaware Day 2011
State officials comment on the Delaware Tourism Office's effort to reconnect residents and visitors with The First State's past
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The blend of historic attractions and food is tasty bait for tourists. But running a restaurant in a historic building comes with some challenges. When tourism dollars are part of the equation, a restaurant can experience a dip in an off-season or when tourism is down.
Many historic structures, especially those from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, may look fussy to some diners, who assume the menu is peppered with high dollar entrees. And, of course, there are the usual issues that an older building presents.
But when done right, a restaurant in a historic building can work well. Just ask Ashby. His successful Deer Park Tavern, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, regularly packs them in.
The Appeal of the Past
Cantwell’s Tavern is situated in a circa-1823 structure built by William Polk, who referred to it in a published announcement as his “New Brick Hotel,” said Deborah Buckson, executive director of the Historic Odessa Foundation. The hotel’s first proprietor, John F. Mansfield, dubbed it “Cantwell’s Bridge Hotel.”
[caption id="attachment_20514" align="alignright" width="300" caption="An early 19th century printing announces the opening of a public house in the building now occupied by Cantwell's Tavern.
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What’s in a name? Odessa was formerly called Cantwell’s Bridge for the toll bridge that Richard Cantwell built in 1731. It was renamed Odessa in 1855 to promote its grain port, which was threatened by railroad shipping. Ultimately, the railroad won, port business dried up and historic buildings slipped into decay.
The Historic Houses of Odessa owes its existence to H. Rodney Sharp, an avid preservationist. Sharp restored the hotel, along with the Corbit-Sharp House, built in 1774, and the Collins-Sharp House, built around 1700 and moved from Collins Beach to Odessa. His son, Bayard, purchased the former First National Bank of Odessa, built in 1855. The other home in the collection is the Wilson-Warner House, which was completed in 1769.
The Sharp family proposed putting a restaurant in the hotel in 2005, when the Historic Odessa Foundation took over the properties after Winterthur Museum ceased managing them.
Leasing the hotel to a restaurant would provide an alternative revenue stream for the foundation. The tenant, meanwhile, would have access to some of the other properties for catered events, a feature that appealed to Ashby.
Indeed, a restaurant in a historic area has a ready-made theme, which can tempt an entrepreneur’s appetite. Steve Coruzzi was drawn to Historic New Castle, also on the new Delaware History Trail, for the setting of his first restaurant, Jack’s Bistro, located in the historic David Finney Inn.
“It offers a lot of eye appeal,” he said of brick sidewalks and 18th- and 19th-century buildings. “We have a brick patio with a 100-year-old walnut tree in the back—that’s what sold us.”
It didn’t take much to sell Lynn and Ed Lester on The Brick Hotel on The Circle in Georgetown. Ed, the former mayor, is a real estate agent who recognized the value of the hotel. Built in 1836, it was once a hangout for Union supporters, and it housed the county courthouse when a new courthouse was being built.
Like other area residents, the Lesters were appalled when they learned that the state of Delaware had purchased the hotel-turned-bank branch to tear it down and build a new Chancery Court. They waged a campaign to save it, and the Lesters purchased the hotel in 2004.
“I felt it should be the centerpiece of our town…and its potential to become that was incredible,” said Lynn Lester. Although her hospitality industry experience was limited to waiting tables in the 1970s, she jumped into a hotel-restaurant concept that includes 14 guestrooms.
Bringing the Past into the Present
Making a dream a reality takes work, as the Lester learned firsthand. The couple, which received no financial support other than state and federal tax credits, worked around historic easements. The renovation tackled floors on the third story that had not been attended to since the 1800s.
The Brick Hotel lacked a commercial kitchen when the Lesters bought the property. That was also the case at Cantwell’s Tavern, which put an addition to the structure that extends into an 18th-century stable. The stable’s exterior is the same, but the inside was reused. The old interior was photographed, dismantled and stored in an outbuilding in case the stable is restored.
[caption id="attachment_20513" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Kitchen staff training for next week's Cantwell's Tavern opening.
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The area required rezoning, since the Odessa houses reside in a residential zone. “We worked with the town to create an Historic Estate District, which includes only the museum buildings,” Buckson said. There was little opposition. “The town understood that in order for the museum to survive, we had to diversify,” Buckson said.
Since the David Finney Inn is no stranger to restaurants—it’s housed many over the years—a kitchen was already in place for Jack’s Bistro. “But if you want to make modifications—or even bring equipment in and out—you have to get creative,” Coruzzi said.
A Perfect Pairing
K.C. Kulp, owner of The Whip Tavern in Chester County, Pa., was interested in the Odessa site, and press releases went out announcing the upcoming restaurant. Kulp later withdrew from the project for “unspecified reasons,” Buckson said. She met Ashby through the Realtor. “He was the perfect fit.”
The Lesters had the same idea. They initially leased the restaurant space to an operator. “After the first year,” Lester said, “we found ourselves in the position of having to take the restaurant over—certainly not something that I’d planned.”
In the past 10 years, at least three restaurants have been situated in the David Finney Inn, built in 1683. Given the economy and the industry, that’s not too surprising. But restaurateurs in tourist-driven areas—especially those with foot traffic—can face unique factors. “If the weather is not good, we expect to have little or no business,” Coruzzi said.
Robert Lhulier can relate. He operated The Chef’s Table in the David Finney Inn from 2005 to 2007.“We were a destination,” Lhulier said. When the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote up the restaurant, he saw an influx of folks from Bucks County, Pa., Philadelphia and North Wilmington.
But not enough locals in New Castle County came into New Castle with any regularity. “So many times, people would stop in and say they’d never been down to New Castle before—and they were Delawareans,” Lhulier said.
While Lester never expected Georgetown to provide the bulk of her business, she’s disappointed that the community has not provided more support for the restaurant, which opened in 2008.
“The economy has a lot to do with everything,” she acknowledged. “We couldn’t have opened the doors to this venture at a worse time, but when we started, things were good and we were too far along to back peddle.”
Will a similar scenario will play out in Odessa? Ashby believes that Cantwell’s Tavern plugs a niche in the Middletown-Odessa-Townsend area, where dining options are primarily limited to strip center restaurants and chains. “It’s really one of the only ones that has some character,” he said of the tavern. Along with being near a cluster of neighborhoods, the site is convenient to routes 1 and 13, he added.
He didn’t need to worry about local business in Newark, where the Deer Park Tavern is situated on bustling Main Street. It’s also within walking distance of dorms and houses.
The Right Mood and the Right Menu
The Deer Park Tavern, whose history dates back to 1851, today looks infinitely more polished than it did in its seedy heyday in the early 1980s. For Cantwell’s Tavern, Ashby received help from the foundation as far as the lighting, decor and furniture choices, which were his responsibility.
Restored buildings from the 18th and early 19th centuries often boast an innate elegance that some find intimidating. “It may appear to many as being too fancy, stodgy and formal,” Lester said of the stately Brick Hotel. Yes, it’s beautiful, she acknowledged, but it’s also casual, and the fare is reasonably priced.
[caption id="attachment_20515" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The menu at Cantwell's Tavern.
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Appetizers range from $4 for sweet potato fries to $11 for mini crab cakes with cocktail sauce and Saltines. Entrees may include $24 for a pork chop stuffed with crabmeat and spinach or $18 for veal Marsala. The catch of the day is $19.
Lester did not let the hotel’s age affect the menu. Neither did Coruzzi, in part because when he opened in 2009, New Castle already had ye ole spots serving classics like fish-and-chips and shepherd’s pie.
Ashby, whose pub menus are successful at McGlynns, let the building dictate some menu offerings. Take fish-and-chips ($16.99), turkey potpie ($15.99), raw bar selections and salmagundi ($10.99), a take on a 17th-century English salad recipe. There are deviled eggs ($4.99) and a jar of homemade pickles ($4.99). But there are also brick-oven pizzas, burgers, crab cakes and etouffee.
Ashby, who once owned Ashby’s Oyster House in Newark, is seemingly confident about Cantwell’s Tavern’s future. “I’m a Delaware operator in a place that goes back a couple of hundred years that’s linked closely to Delaware’s history,” he said. “It’s a wonderful story—it works.”
