Rehoboth Foodie

One of my favorite Foodies-at-Arms often expresses a hankerin' for "good red-sauce Italian." Surprisingly, there aren't a lot of places around here (only two come to mind) that successfully fulfill that need, so he's always on the lookout. Apparently the last time he was looking out, he was using powerful binoculars, because La Dolce Vita in Long Neck was suddenly the subject at hand. In fact, over the past several years I've received a number of emails suggesting that I check out La Dolce Vita. Most of your emails cited

Former Agave kitchen boss Leisa Berlin (original owner of Second Street Popcorn and Candies (several years ago!), and mom of Agave owner Chris McKeown has opened Edie Bee's Confection Shop just in time for the sweet summer season with all manner of sweets, licorice, top-quality chocolates and vintage candies. Edie Bees is at

There's nothin' like a fresh, warm bagel. So many transplants tell me how they mourn the loss of their favorite bagel joint in their home towns. New Yorkers wax rhapsodic over H&H. Suburban Marylanders sob quietly over the loss of Bagel City in Rockville (oh, the twists!). Former Philadelphians bicker over who's the best: Four Worlds Bakery, Philadelphia Bagel Co. or South Street Bagels -- among others. But when the sobbing, bickering and waxing subsides, everybody agrees (at least so far) that Surf Bagel in Lewes satisfies their yeasty, crunchy cravings. And, as a former denizen of Rockville who stood in line many an hour to snag a bag of Bagel City's finest, I agree.

Former Maryland firefighter (and inveterate surfer) Dave Vitella created Surf Bagel to combine two of his most

Well, there's good news and not quite so good news. The good news is that the reincarnation of the Rose & Crown in Lewes' boutique Hotel Rodney is headed up by none other than James Beard nominated Chef Jay Caputo. The not-quite-so-good news for the young restaurant is that the reincarnation of the Rose & Crown in Lewes' boutique Hotel Rodney is headed up by none other than James Beard nominated Chef Jay Caputo. Why not-so-good? Simply because the new Rose & Crown must be held to a higher standard. And the emails I've received since they opened attest to

My first visit to The Charcoal Grill was before they moved to their new location. It was kind of lonely in there, and nobody seemed interested in their one customer. But I went ahead and had a shredded pork sandwich and liked it. It was not smoked, but it was still good. They don't claim that it's smoked, and as a former BBQ restaurant owner myself, I am sensitive to these things. There are all sorts of ways to cook meat slowly, and the people at The Charcoal Grill are careful to point out that their kitchen is grill-centered. So all is well.

My recent visits to the new location (where Zorba's used to be in the Food Lion shopping center) were completely different. The place was bustling, upbeat, music was

Freshly graduated in the early '90s from Hyde Park, N.Y.'s Culinary Institute of America, Chef Steve Ellis landed a cook's dream job at the fabled Stars restaurant in San Francisco. There he was, with his foot in the door of leading-edge New World Cuisine. But he couldn't stop thinking about the tiny (and wildly popular) taquerias in the Mission District. In 1993, against the advice of pretty much everybody, he converted a former Dolly Madison ice cream store in Colorado into the very first Chipotle Mexican Grill. It was to be nothing more than a stepping-stone to his own

Regulars here at RehobothFoodie.com know that I wasn't all that impressed with the original incarnation of JAM Bistro there in the basement of the old Epworth Church on Baltimore Ave. in Rehoboth Beach. It's a known fact that diners tend to shy away from downstairs dining, though there are many notable exceptions, none the least of