Good Deal
You don’t need to hit the chains for inexpensive meals. The trick isn’t knowing where to go, but when. Check DT’s August issue—just out—for 99 Dining Deals, such as:
Brandywine Prime Seafood & Chops Chadds Ford 
(610) 388-8088, brandywineprime.com
 The Deal: Steakhouse night on Thursdays: $29.95
 What You Get: Soup or salad, an 8-ounce prime beef Wellington, and a luscious chocolate Napoleon with raspberry sauce
Corner Bistro Talleyville 
477-1778, mybistro.com
 The Deal: Four-course meal between $35 and $45 for Chef’s Table (third Thursday of every month) 
Bonus: Lunch! The Bistro Express for $14 gets you a half-sandwich, soup, small salad and bite-sized dessert.
Deep Blue Bar & Grill Wilmington 
777-2040, deepbluebarandgrill.com 
The Deal: Lobster dinner for $29.95 on Saturdays through Labor Day
 What You Get: Three lobster-inspired courses, such as lobster bisque with oil and chives, lobster wontons with tamari glaze and mango coulis, or lobster cannelloni with tarragon cream, roasted corn and micro arugula
The Buttery Restaurant Lewes
 645-7755, butteryrestaurant.com
 The Deal: A three-course meal every night for $30 
What You Get: Soup and salad, entrée selections to please meat-lovers, non-meat eaters and vegetarians. Dessert is included.
And there are dozens and dozens more. Click here.
The Best Food Event of the Year
It’s time for one of the great food events of the year, The Best of Delaware Party. DT’s biggest shindig happens Thursday at Dover Downs. The party celebrates the excellence of First State restaurants while raising funds for several outstanding nonprofits. Get out, see old friends, make new ones, dance, drink, and sample the wide variety of delicious food offered by annual Best of Delaware winners. Enjoy live entertainment by Jellyroll and a few other surprises. Hit the VIP Preview Party at 5 p.m. to beat the crowd and the lines. The main event runs 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Who’s in? So far:
Pochi Restaurant
Fresh Thymes
Chesapeake Inn
Karibbean Grill BBQ
Bethany Blues Bbq
Bings Bakery
Hotel du Pont & DuPont Country Club
Brew Haha!
Harry’s Savoy Grill & Ballroom
Harry’s Seafood Grill
Kid Shelleen’s
Back Burner Restaurant
Lucky’s Coffee Shop
Soffritto Italian Restaurant
Woodside Farm Creamery
Buckley’s Tavern
Cantwell’s Tavern
La Casa Pasta
Two Stones Pub
Pizza By Elizabeths
Nage Restaurant
Salt Air
33 West Ale House & Grill
Stanley’s Tavern
Walter’s Steakhouse
Corner Bistro
Just Hooked
Kreston Wine & Spirits
Desserts By Dana
Claymont Steak Shop
Grotto Pizza
Mikimotos
Caffe Gelato
Rose & Crown
Ole Tapas Lounge
Baywood Greens/Gardens
Abbott’s Grill
Good News
The Brick Hotel Restaurant & Tavern
And there will be more by the time the party starts Thursday. Don’t miss it. Check out more here.
Special, Indeed
Speaking of dining deals, here’s a local fave: The 2 for $20 Tuesday meal at Union City Grille in Wilmington. Pick your choice of starters and mains from the following:
To begin:
Grilled swordfish skewers with shaved carrot salad and cilantro-jalapeno pesto
Mixed-green salad with tomatoes, Manchego, croutons and herb vinaigrette
Arborio-crusted fried oysters with tomato-pickle relish and Old Bay aïoli
Grilled flatbread with bacon, caramelized onion and aged goat cheese
Follow one of them with one of four main dishes:
Seared flat iron steak with fried potatoes, arugula and wild mushroom sauce
Panko-crusted chicken breast with panzanella salad and smoked tomato vinaigrette
Sweet chile-glazed Atlantic salmon with grilled zucchini, carrot, ginger and cilantro
Fettucine and crab with artichokes, tomato, spinach, shaved garlic, chili flakes and lemon
While you’re at UCG, check into the Summer Shellfish Dinner. That’s four courses of food and wine, courtey of Frank’s Wine Mart. Start with an elegant amuse bouche. End with a Muscat and toasted almond cake. Book it now. 654-9780, unioncitygrille.com
Great Just Got Better
Tickets are now on sale for the inaugural five-course gourmet wine dinner at Harvest Ridge Winery on Oct. 19, as a prelude to the fourth annual Delaware Wine and Beer Festival Oct. 20 at the Delaware Agricultural Museum and Village in Dover. “We are so pleased to partner with Harvest Ridge to introduce one of Kent County’s newest tourism attractions to our visitors and community,” says Cindy Small, executive director of Kent County Tourism. “As Delaware cultivates its wine, beer and spirits tourism, Kent County will be an important part of the equation, with two wineries, two breweries and a distillery. Our goal was to expand our one-day festival to include additional events and this helps us achieve that goal.” The dinner will be hosted at Harvest Ridge Winery, 447 Westville Road, west of Wild Quail Golf and Country Club. The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with tours of the new production facility and a complimentary commemorative wine glass filled with Harvest Ridge wine. The dinner will be held in the vineyard’s new banquet hall. The five courses of food, prepared by the talented chefs from Abbott’s Grill Restaurant in Milford, will be paired with wines produced by Harvest Ridge. You can meet the winery’s new sommelier, Milan Mladjan. “Milan is passionate about history, so much so that he majored in history and anthropology in college,” says Chuck Nunan, owner of Harvest Ridge. He then earned a degree in wine and viticulture studies from Niagara College. “We can’t wait to introduce him to our community,” Nunan says. Tickets are $75 per person or $500 per table of eight. For more information about the inaugural wine dinner and the Delaware Wine and Beer Festival, visit the official website at delawarewineandbeerfestival.com.
Fun in Newark
Make time for the 10th annual Downtown Newark Food and Brew Festival on July 27, when 19 restaurants will pair more than 40 craft brews and imports with creative meals to celebrate the best in beer and food. No ticket required. Just wander from place to place, sampling and paying as you go. The first 2,500 guests will receive a Food & Brew Fest 10th annual commemorative mug, available at all participating restaurants and at the information booth at the Academy Building at Academy and Main streets. Sample one of a restaurant’s featured brews for $1. Food prices vary. The 10th year is a good year, not only for longevity, but also for the participation of four new restaurants: Café Ole, Taverna, The Greene Turtle and 16 Mile Taphouse, formerly known as the Stone Balloon Winehouse. (Don’t worry—there’s still plenty of wine.) The event runs 2 p.m. till 8 p.m. Bottoms up. 655-6483, newarkfoodandbrewfest.com