Only a year and a half has passed since Kenny Heats introduced his newest establishment, Chalkboard Tavern and Grille in Bethany Beach. But, equipped with a credible crew, he’s managed to turn heads, draw crowds and keep the customers coming back for more.
Coastal Point • RYAN SAXTON
Jeff Edwards, Kathy Lancelotti and Bob Webster, bar, dining room and general managers, respectively, have enjoyed an impressve start in the Chalkboard’s first year. Owner Kenny Heats purchased the restaurant, formerly The Big Easy, at the end of 2005 in t
Heats, a developer from Baltimore, knows a thing or two about business, but the restaurant was a whole new animal for him.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” he said, “but it’s totally different.”
He came across the property in the Sea Colony Marketplace, formerly The Big Easy, in December of 2005. “Originally, I was going to do something with fine dining,” he said, “but shortly into it, I found that it wasn’t the location for it. This is a much more family-oriented and local place.”
Chalkboard’s name was inspired by a friend of Heats, who owned a restaurant in the Midwest called Blackboard Café. “He didn’t have a menu,” Heats recalled. “He would just put specials on a blackboard every day, and I thought it was really neat.”
While the Blackboard Café took an impromptu approach towards available dining, Heats preferred the more traditional method, and developed an extensive and accommodating menu.
“Most of everything we do is customer-related,” said general manager Bob Webster, who’s had his hand in the food industry for years, including at Ocean View’s Den at Bear Trap Dunes. “We communicate very well with our customers and we find out what they like. We’re trying to create a nice, friendly, comfortable atmosphere where people can come enjoy themselves, while also enjoying quality food.”
Since coming aboard in September of 2006, Webster had brought a new flavor to the restaurant, oftentimes fixing dishes personally. He helped add an entirely new menu, to include favorites such as boneless chicken breast surrounding apple walnut stuffing and accented with a honey-orange glaze, and fresh flounder, stuffed with lump crab imperial and baked golden brown. An array of specially prepared catches, from seasonal rockfish to grouper, salmon and tuna are also on the lineup.
Original appetizers, such as tomato and basil caprese and sautéed shrimp sambuca can be the perfect start to meal, while warm Granny Smith apple cake and Chocolate Madness may leave patrons licking their lips. Weekly specials are always keeping a variety of tastes available. Tavern and children’s menus are also on hand to ensure complete satisfaction, whatever the situation.
The menus, however, are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the whole scale of the Chalkboard’s new features.
“We saw different ideas and put them all together to make Chalkboard the most comfortable and welcoming place we could,” Webster noted.
One of the newest advancements to the restaurant, as most returning patrons noticed at the start of this summer, were the accommodating bar seating, complete with a television for each tavern table. Now, the tavern half of the restaurant — which also houses local, live performances — provides diners and sports fans with 14 televisions, including a projection screen.
The idea for the televisions was originally the brain child of Heats, who has traveled the country, taking in everything from restaurants, bars and other establishments he encounters.
Additional recommendations came from newly appointed bar manager Jeff Edwards, who managed Nick’s Steakhouse in Ocean City for 13 years. Edwards left the restaurant business and worked construction for nearly two years, which allowed him more time with his wife and twin sons. Upon returning to restaurants, Heats contacted him, requesting some input.
“When I came, I saw that it needed some attention,” Edwards said. “I felt that we had to take it from the fine-dining atmosphere to more of a casual, sports-bar industry.”
Edwards spent most of his high-school years working through kitchen and bar-back positions in the restaurant business in Rockville, Md., and D.C. Since his employment at the Chalkboard, starting just before the past summer, Edwards has been instrumental in establishing an entertaining environment for the tavern and grille, lining up new, live entertainment.
“I wanted to try and get bands here that hadn’t played before,” he said, “get them exposure, and let people know that we have something new.”
Names like Four Daze Notice and Crooked Finger have already played their debut show at Chalkboard this summer. Live entertainment kicks out tunes on Friday and Saturday, with Open Mic Night every Thursday. Sports packages, including NFL and Big 10, are available, promising coverage of favorite teams, no matter who patrons root for.
“We really want to cater to the locals,” said Heats. “That’s what a lot of the improvements to the restaurant are all about.”
Situated only a few blocks from the beach, it’s no surprise that the restaurant would experience its heavier traffic in the warmer seasons.
“The fluctuation of business was something we just had to get used to,” said Webster. “After going through the spring, we jumped up to a very busy summer season, and everyone got pumped and we became used to that. Then the business drops off after that. We just had to learn to stay fresh and adapt to that. No matter what the challenges are, we had to be ready to go.”
Dining room manager and one of the restaurant’s longest-running employees Kathy Lancellotti is amazed at the transformation the Chalkboard has seen since her start, only a month after Heats purchased the property.
“It’s been a great turnaround,” she said. “When you look around, everyone has their signs, their marquees. We’re tucked back. There’s not a whole lot that sets us apart. You have to come up with something that makes you stand up over everyone else, and Bob’s doing that. He’s helped to give this bar an identity.”
However, it’s not just the customers benefiting from Webster’s influence. “He makes working here pleasurable,” she said. “He treats it as if it were his own.”
Webster does what he can to give back to the community, raising money and signing donations for organizations like the Leukemia Foundation and cancer victims. “I’ve learned a lot from him,” Lancelotti said. “He steps up to the plate when he needs to, and I think everyone can appreciate that.”
For information about specials, reservations, catering, or entertainment, call Chalkboard Tavern and Grille at (302) 539-7482 or stop by in the Sea Colony Marketplace. Chalkboard is closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays through the second season.