Curbside to Tableside
By the time I pull into the small parking lot behind Herman’s Meat Market in Newark, it is already packed with cars. The one just in front of me finally decides to position itself to wait for an opening, and I do the same. It is late afternoon and cool – May 11, the day before Easter.
Finally, I snare a parking space and look around me. We have been in lockdown for a month because of COVID-19, and every driver is wearing some sort of mask. Some remain behind the wheel, eyes fixed on their smart phones. Others stand beside open car doors. From time to time, a young man or woman emerges from the market’s back door with a wrapped package, hands it over to a waiting customer at arm’s length and disappears back inside with their credit card.
Twenty minutes later, I am driving home on largely deserted roads. In the seat beside me is a rack of lamb that Ella and I will prepare for dinner tomorrow along with a nice bottle of local wine. It is Easter. But it is also 2020, and although some things are the same, most things are different and will be for perhaps years to come.
The virus has hit hard at our region’s traditional sources of food and drink – mainly restaurants and food markets, but also Chester County wineries just across the border. Even Zingo’s, our locally owned supermarket, is struggling to keep up with changing demands and the new realities of social distancing in its often-crowded aisles.
Between mid-March and into June, restaurants have been closed to on-location dining. Some that had already been living on the financial edge will never re-open. Others are looking for ways to make reopening work the moment the lockdown is eased. And still others will hold off reopening until it’s safe for larger numbers to dine inside – no need to open, lose more money and then close again, they reason.
In the meantime, there is curbside to tableside takeout dining, and many restaurants and markets are making it work. From the moment lockdowns were anticipated, owners and chefs have asked, “How can we continue to serve loyal customers?” And loyal customers asked, “How can we help our favorite restaurants survive?”
“The highlight of our week is to ride around in the car and pick up a curbside dinner on Friday nights,” jokes my friend Darelle Riabov, ticking off places that she and her husband have been patronizing, spreading the love. I laugh at her email, but for us, too, going out for curbside is our one weekly drive except to restock groceries. Other friends have also been going to familiar places – Skipjack, McGlynns, Harry’s Savoy – and have been pleased with the results.
“Our clients, as you know, are incredibly loyal and want us to survive this,” says Susan Teiser, proprietor of Centreville Café and a longtime friend and colleague, handing me an early lunchtime package of a roast beef sandwich – the Bubba – a Diet Coke and, separately, a double espresso (above). “You can’t see it, but I’m blowing you a kiss on the check,” Susan says from behind her mask. I drive away, savoring the best espresso I have sipped in ages.
The House of William & Merry, perhaps our favorite restaurant, has a short curbside menu each Friday and Saturday – two or three appetizers, a couple of mains and a dessert with vegetarian options. Under temporary regulations, it also sells wines and beers from its inventory. For Mother’s Day, it offers a “brunch for Mom” featuring a split of Prosecco, shrimp and grits, and a stroopwafle.
A few weeks in, Bill and Merry finally obtain flexible plastic pouches and offer two to-go cocktails – a Manhattan for me and the Perfect Pair for Ella (above). One night, on the drive to Hockessin, I pass by Woodside Farms in North Star. It’s a warm evening, and more than a dozen cars have queued up in a quickly jury-rigged takeout ice cream line.
As there are no nearby wineries in northern Delaware, I have been patronizing Va La Vineyards in Avondale. The routine is similar as with restaurants – text in the request, get back a call for credit card information, then go pick up. Recently, I ordered a mixed half-case of new releases, my only disappointed being that the winery’s Calico cat – Cali – is not there to greet me when the order is brought out.
Fortunately, all of us have learned to treat dire situations with a good dose of humor. On the Va La website, proprietor Anthony Vietri has written, “Better than hoarding toilet paper, hoarding Va La wines in your bunker is the quick and easy way to practice social-distancing the way it was meant to be.”
I’ll drink – and eat – to that while looking forward to the days when owners can reopen their doors.
How to Order
Please call or visit online for the latest information.
Centreville Café 5800 Kennett Pike, Wilmington, DE; 302-777-4911
Herman’s Quality Meats, 64 East Cleveland Avenue, Newark, DE; 302-731-5344
The House of William & Merry, 1336 Old Lancaster Pike, Hockessin, DE; 302-234-2255
Va La Vineyards, 8820 Gap Newport Pike, Avondale, PA; 610-268-2702
