It’s no secret President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden visit their Greenville home often on weekends.
It’s pretty hard to miss the motorcade, especially if you’ve been caught in the ensuing traffic jam, or “Joe Jam” as some Delawareans like to call it.
But the Bidens tend to be pretty low-key (well, as low-key as you can be when you’re one of the world’s most powerful political figures) when they’re staying at their secluded home off Barley Mill Road.
While the President attends Mass at St. Joseph on the Brandywine, has shopped at Jos. A. Banks in Greenville and goes to his grandchildren’s athletic events in Hockessin, the couple isn’t out-and-about as much as before Joe took office, although they have had dinner at Bardea in Wilmington and Banks’ Seafood Kitchen & Raw Bar at the Wilmington Riverfront.
This past Saturday night, the Bidens made a trip to dine at the 155-seat restaurant of downtown Wilmington’s hot, new boutique hotel, The Quoin hotel.
The two-story, 24-room hotel at Sixth and North Market streets is located inside the renovated 1885 Security Trust & Safe Deposit Company building, originally designed by architect Frank Furness.
The hotel is run by Method Co., the Philadelphia-based hospitality firm behind Wm. Mulherin’s Sons Hotel & Restaurant, and ROOST Apartment Hotel, in partnership with the Wilmington-based real estate developer The Buccini/Pollin Group.
The Quoin also has a rooftop bar and a cocktail lounge in the basement called Simmer Down. It includes a custom hand-drawn mural by Philadelphia-based artist and illustrator Reverend Michael Alan that includes a tiny portrait of President Biden in his signature “Joe Cool” aviator sunglasses.
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So why did the Bidens choose The Quoin for Date Night? We’re not sure and the details of their visit were scant.
But the elegant hotel, fast becoming one of the city’s more popular spots, is owned by Rob and Chris Buccini, longtime Biden family friends, and daughter Ashley Biden has been seen at The Quoin in recent months.
It’s a very cool place and has open kitchen, a fireplace, a bar and courtyard seating with heat lamps. The outdoor space overlooks one of the city’s lesser-known gems, the Delaware Historical Society’s Willingtown Square.
Maybe the First Couple was checking out the scene for potential campaign staffers who have allegedly grumbled ‘Please let it not be in Wilmington’ about where headquarters may be located if Biden announces he is seeking reelection in 2024?
What we do know is the Bidens dined alone at a table in the corner of the main dining room, according to a hotel spokesman.
And unlike their widely publicized February dinner at the Red Hen in Washington, D.C., where they were weirdly chastised for ordering two bowls of rigatoni, this time the Bidens got a variety of dishes from a menu that is a blend of French and Northern Italian cuisine “with a contemporary, wood-fired flare.”
It’s doubtful anyone is going to call the food police over their recent meal, which included the hotel’s excellent popovers served with mushroom duxelle; Hamachi Crudo with orange, grapefruit and pistachio; coal-roasted beets with charred leeks, burrata and candied walnut (another Quoin winner); and a Meyer lemon tart with blueberry jam, basil sorbet and toasted meringue. Sounds pretty good to us.
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President Biden also took a tour of the property, including the rooftop and Simmer Down, where he did check out the mural and his “portrait,” according to the hotel spokesman.
Contact Patricia Talorico at ptalorico@delawareonline.com and follow her on Twitter @pattytalorico Sign-up for her Delaware Eats newsletter.
