A long-awaited new restaurant inside Wilmington’s historic Hotel du Pont is set to open its doors next week.
The old Green Room at the Hotel du Pont was demolished in mid January. The goal was to open a new Frenchthemedrestaurant called Le Cavalierat the Green Room by Mother’s Day weekend.
But the COVID-19 pandemic halted renovations and delayed the launch until now.
Chef Tyler Akin says the restaurant opens for dinner starting Tuesday night, September 1, 2020.
“What we’re doing at Le Cav is really bringing the brasserie out of Paris," said Akin. "We’re looking to the south of France for things like lemon juice, olive oil - kind of bright Mediterranian flavors - we’re pulling some spices out of north Africa. And we’ve created this really cool cocktail program that is rooted in the New Orleans tradition of French-inspired cocktails.”
Akin adds he’s looking forward to showing off his new menu.
“We have this really kind of cool raw bar section at the beginning of the menu. So whether it’s oysters, shrimp cocktail, lobster, scallop crudo - things like that - and pickled mussels escabeche.”
Le Cavalier can seat up to 118 patrons at full capacity, but it’s currently capped at 60-percent capacity during Phase 2 of Delaware’s reopening.
Akin says Le Cav will initially open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday, then add breakfast, lunch and a weekend brunch.
