It could have been a slap in the ego.
But Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki doesn’t seem too hurt that no guest recognized him during a recent meal at Bardea Steak, a restaurant at 608 N. Market St. that opened in June.
“I’m the mayor of the city and there’s not a single person who said ‘hello mayor’ because nobody knew who the hell I was because they were from all over the place,” he said, laughing.
“We’ve got people coming to our city and visiting our restaurants and really adding a dimension to the city’s economic vibrancy that we couldn’t have imagined two years ago.”
Restaurants, Purzycki believes, are the backbone of the city’s future.
The enduring reality post-COVID pandemic is that many people still want to work from home, Purzycki said, and “that’s really impacting our revenue stream.”
Related:Take a look inside Bardea Steak’s kitchen
“Some people are just closing up shop and they’re like, ‘I just have a little satellite office.’ “
Purzycki said he was considering ways to get employers to move their businesses to Wilmington prior to March 2020. Now the focus is more on the question “How do you get young people to move here?”
More homes are being built, the mayor said, and arriving residents want more amenities than ever before.
“They want bars, they like a pub crawl. They love good restaurants. That’s what makes city life really remarkable,” he said
Purzycki believes that Wilmington’s restaurant scene, both downtown and on the Wilmington Riverfront, is on the rise despite the challenges in the hospitality industry.
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And events like a Wilmington food series at restaurants across the city, which ran from December 2021 to March 2022 and featured celebrity chefs like Top Chef star Tom Colicchio and Adam Zimmer, the host of the former Travel Channel TV series Bizarre Foods , attended, have only increased Delaware’s culinary profile.
The series was the brainchild of Tyler Atkin, a chef and partner at Le Cavalier at Wilmington’s Hotel du Pont.
“Things were really dark for me in 2020,” Akin said. “It was a really difficult time. Everyone’s life was turned upside down.” He wanted to help save the independent restaurant industry.
Akin invited guest chefs Colicchio and Zimmer, along with Top Chef stars Jennifer Carroll and Gregory Gourdet, Niki Russ Federman of New York’s famed Russ & Daughters, and Ashley Christensen, recognized by the James Beard Foundation in 2019 as the nation’s best Awarded Outstanding Chef to cook at Le Cavalier as well as other Wilmington restaurants including Bardea Food & Drink and La Fia, and brought chefs from Stitch House and the forthcoming Wm. Mulherins Sons.
Akin said he expects to raise around $50,000 over the four dinners and one brunch. However, the events raised $100,000 benefiting the Independent Restaurant Coalition. Akin is a founding board member of the 2-year coalition whose mission is to support independent restaurants nationwide.
Akin said another goal of the fundraising meals is for visitors to see the city as a destination for restaurants.
“Wilmington’s indie restaurant scene deserves national attention and is on par with some of our larger neighbors,” he said.
On Friday, during a press conference outside Le Cavalier attended by Purzycki and others, the funds raised were handed over to IRC Executive Director Erika Polmar. She said the money was needed and it wasn’t long ago that the industry was “in dire straits”.
The money raised in Delaware through the celebrity chef dinners will help the IRC continue to support COVID-19-affected neighborhood restaurants and bars and keep their staff busy, Polmar said. In May, the US Senate voted not to replenish a $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) that previously financially supported nearly 200,000 restaurants.
More:Kangaroo chili and meat noodles are on the menu at Wilmington’s Bardea Steak
Rob Buccini, co-founder and co-president of the Buccini/Pollin Group, which has invested more than $1.6 billion in a range of independent restaurants, music venues and more in Wilmington, said the culinary events are “getting deep into COVID.” took place inspiration for the chefs and gave a big boost of energy to the local restaurant scene.
“The economic impact for the restaurants here has been beyond phenomenal,” Buccini said, “and the amount of money we’ve raised has been extraordinary.”
Philadelphia chef Jennifer Carroll, who attended the Wilmington press conference, said it was an exciting night cooking alongside Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio and Akin at Le Cavalier, and having help from Delaware chefs like Gerald To be given to everyone who has volunteered. Diners seemed excited to have her there, she said.
Carroll said the restaurant industry nationwide is slowly recovering and continues to face challenges, particularly with staffing. Business at her Philadelphia restaurant, Spice Finch, is not yet at the level it was before the pandemic began in 2020, she said.
Contact Patricia Talorico at [email protected] and on Twitter @pattytalorico
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