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Marble-topped tables are the latest parisian-inspired addition to La Fable.//photo by Nick Pawson. |
Megan Kee is never satisfied. The restaurateur is continually tweaking La Fable—located just blocks from the beach in Rehoboth—to boost its Parisian presence. Marble-topped tables are the latest French-inspired addition.
“It feels even more like a French bistro than it did before,” says the Sussex County native, who opened La Fable in 2016 and Houston-White Co. in 2017. “When we go to Paris, all the tables are marble-topped at that level of dining.”
Kee’s ability to turn the basement-level space into an airy eatery is impressive. When it was home to Mixx, there were cinder block walls, tile floors and exposed ductwork in the ceiling.
She and boyfriend Nick Pawson put in cork floors that look like hardwood, and a drop ceiling that resemble ornate tin panels. They were going to plaster all of the walls, but after tackling the bathrooms first, they opted for drywall in the dining room. “It was so much work,” she says. “We waxed it by hand.”
They also redid the kitchen and the bar. By the time La Fable opened, marble tables had to wait. “It was such an upfront cost,” she says. “It was not in our budget.” She saved up for the tables, which were made by Best Granite in Lewes. Seeing the room without linens was initially scary, Kee admits, but she’s happy with the overall ambiance.
The new additions complement the art, which Kee carefully curates. She searched far and wide—including England—for the ballroom mirror on the wall, only to find a suitable piece in Sussex County.
In an antiques store in Millsboro, she discovered a rolled map of Julius Caesar’s conquered territories in Europe—and France happens to be on prominent display. “That was super serendipitous. I thought it would be expensive, but it was $25,” she says.
New additions are a given. Each year, friends and diners give her lithographs and other French pieces.
This season beach goers can expect some new menu items as well. There’s a rabbit dish in spring and bouillabaisse in summer. Seared foie gras is offered during the peak summer season, and vichyssoise may replace the onion soup at times.
But among the eight appetizers and eight specials are the standard menu items, which include beef bourguignon, steak frites, trout almondine and escargot. However, not every preparation is traditional. Chicken cordon bleu is fried “because it’s delicious fried,” Kee says.
Her hard work has not gone unnoticed. Earlier this year, OpenTable named La Fable among the most 100 romantic restaurants in America.
More information:
La Fable
26 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth Beach • 227-8510
See the website for hours. There’s a piano bar on Fridays and Saturdays.
