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During the pandemic, things were so slow at Catcher s, a seasonal restaurant in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, that owner Roland Buckingham and his son, Paynter, had to find ways to pass the time between filling takeout orders of crab legs and shrimp tacos. Basically, my son and I sat at a chessboard and did a couple of orders a night, says Buckingham, who whittled down his staff of 20 to a skeleton crew during the depths of the pandemic.
Buckingham now faces a new, albeit welcome challenge. Thanks to the CDC s surprise easing of mask and social distancing restrictions last week, vaccinated customers are returning in droves to businesses once hit hardest by the pandemic, such as gyms, restaurants, spas, and others in the travel and hospitality industries. Catcher s sales are up 100 percent compared with late spring of 2019, as customers are splurging on missed in-person experiences, like shared meals with friends.
Ready, get set, go! Let the crab cake wars begin
Though there s nothing like hot and spicy crabs piled on newspaper surrounded by pitchers of beer, the crab cake is waaayyy more portable and requires a lot less effort to consume. BOB YESBEK PHOTO
Bob Yesbek April 30, 2021
Every morning, I pour myself a cup of cold-brew coffee. I add a polite squirt of Monin Dark Chocolate, a splash of half & half, and then pad into my office to gaze into the murky horrors of the unknown. In other words, I read my email.
My various email boxes get around 150 hits every day. Of course, there are always the crazies (refer to my “send to trash” column from a few months ago), but the great majority of people are kind enough to share their thoughts about our local eateries. Though I grouse about it (to get a laugh), it affords me a pretty good cross-section of the local zeitgeist, i.e., the prevailing mood that suggests what’s “in” or what’s not quite so “in.” One thing I can
Not-so-hidden gems in the fourth block
If Lupo Italian Kitchen s breakfasts are anything like their longtime favorite entrees (the lobster bucatini is pictured), then guests at Hotel Rehoboth are in for a morning treat. SUBMITTED PHOTO
Bob Yesbek March 5, 2021
It all started when Keith Martin’s grandfather opened a taxi service on the first block of Rehoboth Avenue where Snyder’s Candy is now. As the go-to chauffer for visiting notables and glitterati from Washington, D.C. and New York City, he quickly discovered that he needed a spot where he could work on his vehicles. So he opened a little gas station at the corner of Rehoboth and Lake avenues. Back in the day, that was one of five gas stations that graced downtown Rehoboth Beach.