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When Jim Baeurle closed the doors of the Stone Balloon for the final time in 2005, it was clear to him that Newark was changing. As a developer and owner of several Delaware restaurants, he had in mind a plan to expand upon the change - by bringing accessible fine dining to Newark.
The result, the Stone Balloon Winehouse, gradually opened its Main Street doors last week- hosting a three-day private opening last weekend to more than 150 friends and family. Doors officially opened to the public on Feb. 23, and the staff welcomed in a sundry crowd of locals and students.
"It went phenomenal," Baeurle said. "The feedback has been great."
The restaurant has a refined, yet comfortable charm to it - bookcases lined with bottles of wine, a single flower adorning each table, snug leather couches and cozy tables dotting the space, while black-and-white movies play in the background. Stones from the original Stone Balloon complement the rustic backdrop, including the 25-person bar, bringing a distinct atmosphere to Newark's restaurant-bar scene.
"What we wanted to do was to really have people walk in to the space and go, 'Wow,' " Baeurle said. "And I think we achieved that. We don't want it to be intimidating, we want it to be inviting. We want the place to be accessible, not only by price, but by the setting of the restaurant."
The restaurant is unique to Main Street. It integrates the Stone Balloon's one-of-a-kind liquor license - a taproom on/off license. Patrons can drink alcohol in the restaurant, at the bar, or take some to go. Bill Galbraith, general manager and university alumnus, said although it does serve beer and liquor, the restaurant's central feature is clearly the wine.
"Wine is our focus," Galbraith said. "The package store up front sells only wine to-go and inside we have over 200 different labels you can choose from - of which, any of those you can buy to take home with you."
Because the unique license allows customers to buy wine to take home, like a liquor store, all patrons must be 21 years old to enter the restaurant.
The real heart of the bar is the wine preservation system, or cruvinet. The system, which uses nitrogen to preserve the wine, allows the restaurant to serve 20 different wines on tap - in two-ounce or five-ounce pours. Galbraith said there are only a handful of places in Delaware that have such a system.
"We offer a lot of different stuff that you normally wouldn't see by the glass," he said.
The real beauty of having wine on tap, Baeurle said, is that pricier wine is accessible to anyone.
"If you want to try what a $70 bottle of wine tastes like, you might say, 'Well I want to try a two-ounce pour of that. I can afford that and see what that tastes like'," he said.
Baeurle said the staff, which includes seven or eight university students, is both knowledgeable about theorigin and taste of the wines.
Josh Kling, a senior in the department of hotel, restaurant and institutional management and the restaurant's sommelier, said the restaurant's menu, which includes ten different cheeses and small, shared and large plates, is equally appealing.
"Everything on the menu is legitimately good," he said.
The chefs are all professionally trained and desserts are made fresh by a pastry chef commuting daily from Dewey Beach.
"We don't just slop it on the plate," Galbraith said. "We put a lot of love into it."
Executive chef and Newark native, Jason Dietterick, said he tries to incorporate local and seasonal products into his progressive American style of cooking.
"I'm trying to bring my style of food back to Northern Delaware," he said. "Delaware is so under-looked for its agriculture, and I want to try to incorporate a lot of farm to table dining. It's a lot of simplistic ingredients, but really just using great products and just having them shine in a dish."
Baeurle said that since it's fine dining many people think it's not affordable. However, he said, that's not the case.
"I think the way we course out the menu you can try a lot of different things and not spend a lot of money if that's what you want to do," he said.
Graduate student Lindsey Aloia, who enjoyed cocktails at the bar, said the restaurant offers Newark something different.
"It's nice to go out and be in a classier place, get dressed up and have a little more fun," Aloia said. "It's pretty swanky, I like it. It's a bit of an older crowd though, so I can't see myself coming here all that frequently."
However, Kling said he has already seen several groups of students and thinks it will get more popular by word of mouth.
"They just need to discover it, that's what it is," he said.
Graduate student Jill Nash also hung out at the bar for the first time.
"I think the cool thing is that not a lot of us know that much about wine, but the bartenders are really nice and you can try small samples of different kinds," Nash said.
For college students, she said, the menu is a little pricy, but it's a great place for special occasions.
Galbraith said that he is looking forward to the success of the restaurant and hopes to bring something different to Newark.
"We take pride in what we do here and hopefully it will show when it comes to eating dinner, or with the bottle of wine we select for you, or with a plate of food that comes out," he said.
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