Trading spaces in Rehoboth keeps the business of eating alive

Last week’s opening of the new Red, White & Basil restaurant on Coastal Highway marks the fourth local venture for Jeff McCracken and Mark Hunker. They are the longtime owners of Eden and JAM restaurants on the ocean block of Baltimore Avenue, and they recently acquired the tiny Coho’s Market next to Cultured Pearl. (Remember the High’s store that used to be there?)

Whenever I think of Eden, I think of the history of that attractive building on Baltimore Avenue. Eden went through several major changes (it started on Rehoboth Avenue where Cilantro is now), and it probably wouldn’t have ended up on Baltimore Avenue had it not been for the efforts of Betsy Leroy.

Betsy and Ben Leroy are the owners and operators of Pizza By Elizabeths in Greenville. In 1995, Betsy purchased an old home on Baltimore Avenue next door to the sadly gone Camel’s Hump restaurant and across the street from Café Azafran. She demolished the old structure and replaced it with a new space where she and a business partner (also named Elizabeth) installed location No. 2 of their upstate Pizza By Elizabeths concept. More than 20 years ago, the two Elizabeths dialed things back to the one location in Greenville. I never miss a chance to go there when I find myself beaming into the northern hinterlands.

I’ve written more than once that being a good home cook is one of the biggest reasons to not open a restaurant. But the two Elizabeths (with Betsy’s 3-year-old and 9-year-old boys in tow) went on to prove that that advice is not hard and fast. Their first location opened in 1993 just a few miles from the current spot on Kennett Pike in verdant and rather upscale Greenville. Located just a few minutes from Winterthur Museum and Longwood Gardens, a steady stream of visitors was virtually guaranteed. So much so, in fact, that after 15 cramped years, they found it necessary to move to the larger space.

A wall of bigger-than-life Elizabeths flanks a two-sided fireplace that divides the main dining rooms. And the menu is no less Eliza-centric. For example, there’s the Barrett Browning (plain with cheese and sauce) followed closely in popularity by the Davis (blackened chicken, bacon, cheese & honey mustard). The cleverly conceived list continues with the Montgomery (sausage, peppers, roasted onions, pepperoni and mozzarella), and the Queen, sporting Betsy’s addictive mushroom duxelles sauce, white chicken chunks and chives. Along with that deliciously decadent selection there are somewhat more healthy choices such as the Claiborne (pesto and chopped tomatoes) and the Arden, with rosemary onions, broccoli, tomatoes and cheese.

Even the bathrooms pay homage to the namesakes, with chandeliers, silver-foil wallpaper and multiple images of Betties past and present. Ben Leroy works closely with his wife to keep things running smoothly. But he brings a lot more than pizza to the table: Longtime denizens of Dewey Beach will surely remember The Snap, the house band at the Bottle & Cork before it was purchased by Alex Pires. Ben was lead singer and guitarist, and fans can still hear him perform regularly at Pizza By Elizabeths. Now I know why that beautiful grand piano dominates the bar area.

We can no longer stroll down Baltimore Avenue to pick up a signature pie from Pizza By Elizabeths. But we can enjoy an elegant dinner at Eden, surrounded by some of the amenities that were the brainchild of the talented and very funny Betsy Leroy.

Bob Yesbek writes and talks beach eats nonstop. He can be reached at byesbek@capegazette.com.