For its future, Smyrna turns to its past

SMYRNA – Look beyond the dust, scuffed wooden floors, peeling paint, stacked lumber and messy debris of a site under construction, Donna Ignasz says.

The Inn at Duck Creek is not yet ready to open as a tavern and upscale "farm-to-table" restaurant, but its work-in-progress potential isn't difficult to imagine.

Taking visitors on a tour of three 18th-century buildings at East Commerce and North Main streets, an intersection known as Smyrna's Four Corners, Ignasz shows off the good bones – the six fireplaces, arched church windows and various rooms of what eventually will become one adjoining 4,000-square-foot space.

"We're keeping the character of the building," Ignasz says.

The Inn at Duck Creek is part of the continuing transformation of Smyrna's historical district. The area, off U.S. 13, has been somewhat forgotten by travelers ever since Del. 1 opened in stages from 1991 to 2003 to help relieve beach traffic.

Smyrna officials have said activity in its once thriving downtown – shipbuilding had been a prominent business after the town was settled before the American Revolution – began dwindling with the construction of the now-defunct Blue Hen Mall in 1968 and later, the Dover Mall in 1982.

But Ignasz is hoping the small town's rich historic appeal, strategic location and recent revitalization efforts will help make the Inn at Duck Creek a destination restaurant.

The bottom floor, once an antique shop and, before that, Vance's Barber Shop for nearly five decades, will house the tavern, she says.

Ignasz hopes guests soon will eat a crabcake slider or an "adult" grilled cheese there. She can envision them resting elbows at the 12-stool bar and having a glass of wine from nearby Harvest Ridge Winery in Marydel, or maybe a beer from the coming-soon Blue Earl Brewing Co. or perhaps a cocktail made with one of the spirits produced by Painted Stave, the distillery just down the street.

Lunch and dinner, with dishes like braised pork belly and butter-poached lobster, will be served in other rooms on floors most recently shooed of birds.

And an upstairs room, with a view of several downtown businesses including the recently opened Drunk'n Baker, across the street, eventually will become a place to have a soothing cup of tea. Another room could be a place to hear live music.

Major restorations have been ongoing since the restaurant project was announced last summer. Ignasz, who will run Duck Creek Hospitality Group with partner Howard Johnson, says the hoped-for spring opening for the Inn at Duck Creek now looks like it will likely be June or possibly even July.

"Downtown Smyrna is going to be, like, wow," says Town Manager David S. Hugg. "It's clearly going through a reinvention. It's almost going to be a metamorphosis from a sleepy corner to a rediscovery. It's one of Delaware's best-kept secrets. You just want to put up a sign and tell people to get off Route 1."

The buildings which will house the 76-seat restaurant and 24-seat tavern – 2, 4, 6 and 8 N. Main St. – are owned by Edward H. Ide, who runs i3a, a Smyrna engineering and construction management firm. Ide has purchased and rehabbed several historic buildings in the area.

The Inn at Duck Creek is located in one of the major thoroughfares of Smyrna known as Four Corners. Before that, it was called Duck Creek Crossroads. (Duck Creek also serves as the dividing line between New Castle and Kent counties.)

The town's boundaries were one-fourth of a mile in each direction of the four corners. In 1857, the town limits were extended another one-fourth mile in each direction, making Smyrna 1 square mile.

Smyrna, ripe for a comeback, has been helped along by the addition of new food and drinking establishments in recent years. Sheridan's Irish Pub, run by the same family that once ran Newark's A Piece of Ireland, has operated the West Commerce Street eatery since 2004.

Businesses like the Odd Fellows Cafe on South Main Street, which opened in 2012, and Painted Stave, the distillery in the Old Smyrna Theatre on West Commerce Street, also renovated by Ide, have increased the town's profile.

In January, Smyrna welcomed the LITS (Love Is The Sweetest) Candy Boutique on West Commerce Street, which sells hard-to-find sweets from the 1950s and 1960s.

Earlier this month, the Drunk'n Baker, featuring alcohol-infused baked goods, opened in a historic building renovated by Ide at the corner of North Main and East Commerce streets.

Coming soon to Smyrna is the state's seventh brewery, Blue Earl Brewing Co., in a business park off Del. 300, and a family-run Texas barbecue-style eatery on West Commerce Street.

Janet Straughn Forrest, who grew up in the Townsend area and recently moved back to Delaware after living in New Jersey for 25 years, says she and her daughter Breanne Blair are surprised at the reception they've received since opening the Drunk'n Baker on April 3.

"It's going really good. It's been almost overwhelming. For a while, we couldn't keep up," says Forrest, who said the 1 N. Main St. shop nearly sold out of baked goods shortly after opening. "We were trying to bake as fast as we could."

Forrest, a Dover High School graduate, says she loves having a business in Smyrna, especially in a building dating back to at least 1806. "I just love downtowns, and I love Main Streets."

Town manager Hugg says there about 500 historic buildings in Smyrna and the town has retained much of its character. "It's a wonderful mix of Colonial era and Victoria era," he says.

Ignasz, a former Wilmington resident who has worked in restaurants and in finance, believes in Smyrna's potential. She and Johnson, who ran the Odd Fellows Cafe until selling it in 2014, are both Smyrna residents.

They are confident once restorations are complete, the Inn at Duck Creek will attract some of Smyrna's 11,000 residents as well as visitors. The town is about 10 miles from Middletown, about 12 miles north of Dover and 30 miles south of the major business centers of Newark and Wilmington.

The facade of what will be the entrance of the Inn at Duck Creek tavern, known as the Phillips building, has changed little from 1906 Four Corners postcards that are part of the Delaware Public Archives.

The building's turret remains, though it was replaced by a handcrafted copper one in January. The building, dating back to 1763, also still has many Victorian-era decorative exterior structures such as a wrought iron railings and finials.

Still, the interior needs much more than a few coats of paint. Some buildings have long been vacant. Sinks that remained from a former beauty shop had to be ripped out, and plans are in place to create new doorways. A new kitchen has to be built from scratch, and restrooms need to be revamped.

The tavern will be housed in what many might remember as the barbershop operated by Vance Cole, who opened the business when Dwight D. Eisenhower was president. He ran it for about 50 years.

Ignasz will be running the tavern and plans to pay homage to Cole in some way – perhaps putting a barber chair in the bar area or hanging vintage photographs.

The partners have hired a New Jersey chef who they say can execute both casual and fine-dining cuisine. The tavern will have a separate menu from the restaurant and will offer burgers and sandwiches with house-cut fries.

The restaurant side, to be run by Johnson, who has worked in the hospitality business for more than 15 years, will have dishes such as shrimp and grits, tuna tartar, fried oysters and pan-roasted rib-eye.

Desserts will include a Southern-style bread pudding that Johnson was well-known for at the Odd Fellows Cafe and other sweet endings like hazelnut cappuccino pot de crème and campfire s'mores.

Hugg says he thinks visitors will be surprised at Smyrna's changing face.

"They might not realize how neat this town is. It's kind of subtle if you haven't paid attention, but when you look around, you'll be amazed."

Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com. Read her culinary blog Second Helpings at www.delawareonline.com/blog/secondhelpings and follow her on Twitter @pattytalorico

WHAT'S NEW IN SMYRNA

Blue Earl Brewing Co., (formerly called Warlock Brewing Co.), 210 Artisans Drive; blueearlbrewing.com. Work is continuing on the brewery taproom and adjoining rooms from Ronnie "Blue Earl" Price, a longtime home brewer. The state's seventh brewery is expected to open in June, says Smyrna Town Manager David S. Hugg.

Love Is The Sweetest (LITS) Candy Boutique, 23 W. Commerce St.; (302) 725-0588; www.loveisthesweetest.com/. The shop opened in January and features a variety of back-in-the-day candy such as Gold Mine Nuggets, Candy Buttons, Slap Sticks, Mary Jane's and Bubble Gum Cigarettes.

Painted Stave Distilling, 106 W. Commerce St.; (302) 653-6834; paintedstave.com. The state's first stand-alone distillery, opening in 2013, is housed in a 1940s era movie house. Tours are available. Spirits include vodka, whiskey and gin. Tastings are $2 each or five for $5. The tasting room is open 4 to 9 p.m. Friday; noon to 6 p.m. Saturday; and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The Drunk'n Baker, 1 N. Main St.; (302) 389-6807; www.thedrunkinbaker.com. The bakery, opened since April 3, features baked goods made with various liqueurs and spirits. Creations include White Russian Cupcakes, baked with vodka and coffee liqueur, and Bourbon Apple Berry Tart. Pastry chef Breanne Blair is a 2013 graduate from the Academy of Culinary Arts in New Jersey.

The Odd Fellows Cafe, 34 S. Main St.; (302) 514-9008. Visit its Facebook page, The Odds Fellow Cafe.

Coming soon: Hugg says a family-run Texas-style barbecue restaurant will be opening on West Commerce Street.

THE INN AT DUCK CREEK

• The building hosts six fireplaces, arched church windows and various rooms of what eventually will become one adjoining 4,000 square-foot space.

• Lunch and dinner, with dishes like braised pork belly and butter-poached lobster, will be served in various other rooms on floors most recently shooed of birds.

• The building, dating back to circa 1763, also still has many Victorian-era decorative exterior structures such as a wrought iron railing and finials.

• The tavern will be housed in what many might remember as the barbershop operated by Vance Cole.