'Top Chef' stars boost Wilmington dining scene and aid independent restaurants

It might have been a gut punch to the ego.

But Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki apparently is not too hurt that during a recent meal at Bardea Steak, a restaurant at 608 N. Market St. that opened in June, no diners recognized him.

"I'm the mayor of the city and there's not a single person who said, 'Hello, Mayor,' because no one knew who the hell I was because they were from anywhere and everywhere," he said with a laugh.

"We got people coming into our city and going to our restaurants and really adding a dimension to the economic vibrancy of the city that we couldn't have imagined two years ago."

Restaurants, Purzycki believes, are the backbone of the future of the city.

The continued reality in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic is that many people still want to work at home, Purzycki said, and "this really impacts our source of revenue."

Related:Take a look inside the kitchen at Bardea Steak

"Some people are just closing up shop and they say, 'I'm just having a little satellite office.'"

Purzycki said before March 2020, he was thinking about how to get employers to move their businesses to Wilmington. Now, the concentration is more on "how to get young people to move here."

More apartments are being built, the mayor said, and incoming residents want more amenities than ever before.

"They want bars; they like a bar crawl. They love good restaurants. It's something that makes city living really remarkable," he said.

Purzycki believes even as the hospitality industry still faces challenges, the Wilmington dining scene, both downtown and on the Wilmington Riverfront, is on an upswing.

Related:Foodies can dig into Delaware food & drink news all summer right here

And events like a Wilmington dining series at city restaurants that ran from December 2021 through March 2022 and featured celebrity chefs such as "Top Chef" star Tom Colicchio and Adam Zimmern, the host of the former Travel Channel TV series "Bizarre Foods," have only increased Delaware's culinary profile.

The series was the brainchild of Tyler Akin, a chef and partner of Le Cavalier at Wilmington's Hotel du Pont.

"Back in 2020, things were really dark for me," Akin said. "It was a really difficult time. Everybody's lives were upturned." He wanted to help save the independent restaurant industry.

Akin invited visiting chefs Colicchio and Zimmern, along with "Top Chef" stars Jennifer Carroll and Gregory Gourdet, Niki Russ Federman of New York's famed Russ & Daughters, and Ashley Christensen, who in 2019 was honored by the James Beard Foundation as the nation's most outstanding chef, to cook at Le Cavalier as well as at other Wilmington restaurants including Bardea Food & Drink and La Fia and brought in chefs from Stitch House and the coming soon Wm. Mulherin’s Sons.

Akin said during the four dinners and one brunch, he expected to raise around $50,000. The events, however, raised $100,000, which will benefit the Independent Restaurant Coalition. Akin is a founding board member of the 2-year-old coalition whose mission is to support independent restaurants nationwide.

Akin said another goal of the fundraising meals was for visitors to view the city as a dining destination.

"Wilmington's indie restaurant scene is worthy of national attention and on par with some of our bigger neighbors," he said.

On Friday during a press conference outside of Le Cavalier that was attended by Purzycki and others, the funds raised were given to the IRC’s Executive Director Erika Polmar. She said the money is needed and it hasn't been too long since the industry was "in dire, dire straits."

The money raised in Delaware from the celebrity chef dinners will help the IRC continue to aid neighborhood restaurants and bars impacted by COVID-19 and keep their employees working, Polmar said. In May, the U.S. Senate voted not to replenish a $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund that had previously given nearly 200,000 restaurants financial aid.

More:Kangaroo chili, '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 an array of independent restaurants, music venues and more in Wilmington, said the dining events held "deep into COVID" provided inspiration for the chefs and gave the local dining scene a big boost of energy.

"The economic impact for restaurants here was beyond phenomenal," said Buccini, "and the amount of money we raised was exceptional."

Philadelphia chef Jennifer Carroll, who attended the Wilmington news conference, said it was an exciting night to cook along with "Top Chef" judge Tom Colicchio and Akin at Le Cavalier and have help from Delaware chefs like Gerald Allen, who volunteered his time. Diners seemed excited to have them there, she said.

Carroll said nationwide the restaurant industry is recovering slowly and continues to have its struggles, especially with staffing. Business at her Philadelphia restaurant Spice Finch still is not yet at the level it was before the pandemic began in 2020, she said.

Contact Patricia Talorico at ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Top Chef celebrities help raise Wilmington dining profile, funds