Jack Wright, owner of Exit Zero Hospitality LLC, is excited to see phase one of his two-year renovation at Cape May – Lewes Ferry terminal nearing completion.
“The entire thing has been a bit of a roller coaster; it’s a huge project,” he said.
Delaware River and Bay Authority (DRBA), which owns and operates the ferry between New Jersey and Delaware, and Exit Zero have partnered to elevate the dining offerings at the Lower Township terminal.
Exit Zero signed a 10-year lease with a two-phase plan to add restaurants and a shopping village to the terminal.
The group operates Exit Zero Filling Station, a restaurant and retail store, in West Cape May, and also publishes the weekly Exit Zero magazine and “Cool Cape May” annual guidebook for those visiting the area.
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Ferry Park is Wright’s latest endeavor — creating a community park with landscaping, recreational games and a mini shopping village featuring some of Cape May’s favorite stores.
Phase one of the renovations is dining, which began with the opening of Cafe 64 in September.
The former gift shop at the terminal has been transformed into a grab-and-go eatery with specialty coffees, hot and cold sandwiches for breakfast or lunch, plus Exit Zero and ferry-related merchandise, travel gear and gifts.
The menu features breakfast sandwiches like sausage, egg and cheese on an English muffin; cold sandwiches like spicy turkey on a ciabatta roll; pastries, and hot sandwiches like the Hot Chick Wrap with fried chicken, pepper jack cheese, slaw, pickles and spicy aioli.
“[The restaurant] gets its name from the fact that the Cape May Lewis ferry opened July or launched July 1964,” Wright explained. “That was when the first ferry went from Lewes Delaware to Cape May, so that’s why it’s called Cafe 64.”
The tables in the cafe feature graphics with information on other events that occurred in 1964 for guests to absorb as they sip their coffee.
A pastry chef will be hired to bake fresh pastries like muffins and Danishes every morning, he said.
Dine with a panoramic view of the Delaware Bay
Following the cafe, a new fine dining restaurant joined the terminal on April 1.
The Lookout features coastal cuisine and prime meats. The menu includes appetizers like creamy lobster bisque; a raw bar; and dry-aged beef from a premium supplier in Pennsylvania with dishes like cowboy ribeye steaks, a 14-ounce New York strip steak and filet mignon; seafood options like macadamia-crusted ahi tuna, Scottish salmon Wellington and lobster tails.
The restaurant sits on the second floor of the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal with an octagonal-shaped main room that offers panoramic views of the Delaware Bay.
“You get incredible sunsets off to the right and then off to the left you get the ferry boats coming in and out, which never gets old,” Wright described. “It’s very romantic and you’re surrounded by the water.”
A patio with wicker furniture, gas firepits and a mahogany bar that seats 50 allows guests to have cocktails and snacks or dinner.
Currently, the restaurant is open 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. But just before Memorial Day weekend, The Lookout will be open seven days a week.
“It’s (the restaurant) been doing really well,” Wright said.
‘Shots across the bow’
Boat Drinks is the next restaurant to open, and will begin welcoming guests on Friday.
The outdoor bar and restaurant will focus on all things healthy and quick service. Casual American fare and craft cocktails will be on the menu.
One unique item is Salads by the Glass, a glass jar featuring one of five signature salads and dressing, served shaken.
“Not only are we shaking cocktails behind the bar, but we’re also shaking your salads,” Wright said.
Hawaiian-styled shrimp, soups, and crudité of pickled vegetables with a range of dips and other snacks will be offered. Salads, sandwiches, panini like mushroom and goat cheese will be brought out to tables quickly.
“The whole point of Boat Drinks is to have an inventive, fun cocktails menu and also the ability for Ferry passengers or visitors to have a very quick service,” he said. “It’s a very kind of light menu, which we think is important to have as part of the overall mix.”
The restaurant is positioned right in front of the ships at the terminal.
Guests can sit and watch the ships dock as they dine, and partake in a fun special, Shots Across the Bow.
“Back in the old days, ships [in] the British Navy, etc., The Spanish Navy, would do something called a ‘shot across the bow’ — it was a warning shot,” Wright explained. “They would fire a cannon and deliberately miss but it would warn you away.”
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As each ferry ship docks at the terminal, which is every few hours during the summer and takes about a minute to complete, guests sitting at the bar will get a specially concocted “shot across the bow” for $2.
The flavor is being workshopped, but Wright plans to have it change seasonally.
Exit Zero Ferry Station
The last restaurant to join the terminal is Exit Zero Ferry Station, a younger sister to Exit Zero Filling Station in West Cape May.
“Exit Zero Filling Station is called Filling Station because we took over an old gas station; this is very Ferry Station because we’re taking over a ferry terminal,” Wright explained.
The restaurant will offer the same “crazy mix of Exit Zero of American classics reimagined and also Asian, the whole kind of American and Asian mix that we do,” he added.
Guests can expect Chinese and Thai staples, as well as burgers and chicken sandwiches.
The restaurant sits below The Lookout and adjacent to Boat Drinks. Inside, it’s a large octagonal dining room with about 300 seats, overlooking the greenery and water. A big octagonal bar will be built in the middle of the room, plus a double-sided gas fireplace running year-round.
“The Ferry Station, that will be the kind of the main engine at the terminal,” Wright said.
Exit Zero Ferry Station is set to debut on May 13 with the Exit Zero Jazz Festival, which will be based at the ferry terminal.
An ‘exciting plan’ that continues to be an ‘adventure’
With supply chain issues causing disruptions in acquiring equipment and securing contractors, the project has been quite the whirlwind, Wright shared.
“It’s a very exciting plan, but it has been and continues to be an adventure,” he said. “We’re in the middle of huge inflation, huge supply chain issues, huge staff shortages and we’re opening three new restaurants. So, it’s a roller coaster every single day.”
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But he’s determined and thrilled to see progress made.
Phase two of the project, which will begin in the fall, is Ferry Park — a shopping village and park.
The village will house local shops, as well as a park with outdoor table tennis, bocce ball courts and hammocks. It will be ready for the public next summer.
In the meantime, Wright hopes guests will enjoy “amazing sunset views” while dining at the three restaurants.
“It has been and continues to be a very critical exercise that tests us each and every single day, so I cannot wait when all the restaurants are open, to be sitting by the docks having a little ‘shot across the bow’ myself,” he said.
“It’s going to be incredible, once it’s all up and running. We can’t wait.”
Hira Qureshi covers food and drink for South Jersey at the Courier Post, Burlington County Times and Daily Journal. She can be reached at HQureshi@gannettnj.com or 856-287-8106. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.
