The Kingston Grille has been a familiar sight in downtown Bethany Beach for nine years. And chef and proprietor Bruce Kingston is no lightweight when it comes to fine cuisine. The Culinary Institute of America graduate has worked all over, from resorts in South Carolina to Maui, Hawaii.
Coastal Point • Ruslana Lambert
Kingston Grille chef and proprietor Bruce Kingston displays some of the fine cuisine the restaurant offers patrons at their Bethany Beach location.
Originally from north Wilmington, Del., Kingston became acquainted with Bethany while vacationing there.
“I worked at the Hotel du Pont for many years and would always vacation down in Bethany Beach,” he explained. “I decided that I would take an early retirement from du Pont and come down and buy what was the Dream Café, a little coffee place. I didn’t care for that, so I decided to open a small fine-dining restaurant.”
And that it is. The Kingston Grille is a fine-dining restaurant located right at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Campbell Place. Their menu focuses on country-French food and boasts lots of fresh ingredients, featuring seafood, bouillabaisse, foie gras and veal. Whatever diners decide to order, it will definitely be cooked to perfection, Kingston emphasized. “Everything here is done to order.”
Offering an average of four appetizers and six entrée specials each night, their menu ranges from $8 for appetizers to $45 for their highest-priced entrée. The desserts are made in-house and range in price from $7 to $10. The Kingston Grille also has a wine list of about 80 different wines, which they change throughout the year.
“Our wine is very well priced,” said Kingston. “We don’t gouge anyone on the wine… We sell the most wine by bottle of any restaurant of our size in the state.” Starting in the low $30s, their highest priced bottle is $140.
They have earned bragging rights as one of the best restaurants on the Eastern Shore. Not only has the restaurant won awards for the best French dining restaurant in Maryland and Delaware for years, but The Kingston Grille has also been featured in Food Arts magazine, a rare honor that has only been bestowed upon one other restaurant in the area.
Kingston’s business partner is Mitzi Rhyne, who is retired from a career in sales for Christian Dior out of Paris and New York. Kingston said he met Rhyne while she was working in an antique store, and she was “just perfect.”
Describing Rhyne as the best partner he could have, Kingston stated, “You know, she looks great and she’s super customer-oriented. From her trips to Paris, she’s very food-knowledgeable, and she has a great head for business.”
The Kingston Grille is the pair’s only restaurant at present, so are there future plans for more restaurants?
“Absolutely not!” declared Kingston. “People always ask…Years ago, someone wanted to finance another restaurant. This one takes up all our time, and we can’t do anything more than this. We are perfectly happy with what we have here… We’re just a low-key, little place and like to do our own thing.”
The ambiance at the Kingston Grille is cozy and quaint. With only 12 tables inside and four tables outside, Kingston and Rhyne have fulfilled their dream of what they desired their restaurant to be.
“We’re trying to achieve a little Paris bistro with our colors — the saffron yellow, the French red. We have brick floors, black table cloths and a real pretty wine cabinet. We’re a beautiful little restaurant.”
Having never advertised itself to the wider world, living off its street presence and word of mouth, the Kingston Grille has continued to see many of the same customers for its entire nine years. Kingston ultimately credits the eatery’s customers for its success.
“We have a wonderful clientele and a wonderful staff,” he said. “The people who come in here are just terrific. They know food, they appreciate good food, and they’re wonderful loyal customers.”
The Kingston Grill is open for dinner every day except Tuesdays. They have two seatings each night, at 6 and 8:30 p.m. Walk-ins are also welcome. For more information or to make a reservation, call (302) 539-1588.