La Fête — Restaurant in Wilmington

My husband and I have just come from Wilmington's new French restaurant La Fete. La Fete means 'the celebration' in French, and this restaurant absolutely lives up to it's name. Our meal this evening was a true celebration of the palate. You do not need to be familiar with French cuisine to enjoy yourselves here--though if you are, you'll enjoy yourselves just as well. The service was excellent, and the restaurant comfortable and inviting, and the atmosphere vibrant and engaging. Since we were trying La Fete for the first time, we treated ourselves to three full courses--appetizer, entree and dessert, and were just thrilled from start to finish. We are both familiar with French cuisine, so we wanted to sample their versions of traditional dishes, which I really recommend you try, but there are plenty of options that don't require you to be too adventurous, that looked just as lovely and well-enjoyed by the patrons around us. Appetizers: For hubs-the ratatouille (a stew-like mix of savory cooked vegetables served with chickpea pancakes to wrap the veg in to eat) was delicious and accessible for any palate--I don't like veg, and I LOVED this dish. For me-the escargots vol-au-vent-snails served in a puff-pastry bowl with pommes puree (aka creamy ultra-buttery mashed potatoes) in a garlic butter roux was just outstanding. If you've never tried escargots, this is the place to do it. Like scallops, if not cooked well, escargots can be very chewy--almost rubbery. The escargots at La Fete were cooked perfectly--as tender as I've ever had, and paired beautifully with the pastry, potatoes and garlic-butter sauce. Entree: we shared the delightful dry-aged duck for two--cooked two ways: roasted, sliced, herb-encrusted duck breast in a wine reduction, along with a leg of honeyed duck confit served with frisee (light endive), and duck-fat carrots. We also ordered additional sides of pommes puree--again--mashed potatoes, but very light and creamy, and so buttery you'll think you've gone to heaven, plus pommes dauphine (gently fried rosettes of pommes puree with a hint of horseradish--again, something I'm not generally a fan of--but delicately handled so it is almost undetectable, but adding a crucial undertone of extra flavor). Dessert: Crepes cake--thin, light pancakes stacked with layers of cream in between, sliced into a cake-shaped serving and served with a lovely orange sauce. Very light and flavorful ending to a lovely meal for me. Hubs had a lovely sorbet: rose (like the flower)-rose (as in rose wine). Just go. You'll be very glad you did. We'll be back soon, that's...

Wow! Wow! I come to the NE 4 times a year and normally stay in PA. I had to stay in Wilmington this trip due to an event in PA that caused room rates to soar and I was very happy with this move as I had NEVER been to DE and what a cool, quaint little city! I always try and find a top place to have dinner at every night I am in town and I followed the same game plan. I ate at the 3 top rated restaurants in Wilmington based on Google. This landed me at SnuffMill, Bardea & La Fete. The first two spots, I must say, were very good meals. Pleasantly surprised to find both of these places in Wilmington. Food was good, service was good and the ambiance was fun and energetic at Bardea and more cozy and intimate at Snuff. I would return to both. But, LA FETE! This is apparently the newest spot and this place just is on another level vs the other two; they just can’t compare! It’s unfortunate to say it this way but it’s factual. I am no ‘foodie’ or restaurant snob but I do eat out in Los Angeles and Las Vegas (where my business is) 5x a week so I would say I am decent judge of good food and great restaurants, JUST MY OPINION. La Fete, I would eat at 3x a week if it was near me. The place is F…… Gorgeous, cool, styled out but yet welcoming and laid back soooo refreshing. The food was outstanding, enjoyed everything I had; beef tartar, lyonnaise salad, Charbroiled prawns, THE DUCK WHOA. Cocktail program was SUPER cool, really reminded me of places back West and they were executed perfectly. Service, I must say it was spot on. You can tell they are being trained correctly, they didn’t have all the answers to wine and liq but they were so friendly and happy, I can’t remember being at another place where the staff seemed to genuinely be having fun with it…….it all clicked when I was informed that the OWNER was waiting tables with them…cmon….you can’t make this up. This place is a total gem of a find and if it was in LA, NY or Vegas, it would be being nominated for several awards. Well done La Fete team and well done Wilmington. See you in...

What an unusual and interesting new restaurant! It has a tasteful, comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. It has a fun cocktail menu, that lists popular cocktails from previous eras. It also has dishes you rarely find in our area and amazing French inspired desserts. The hostess was welcoming and professional. We started with drinks at the large and welcoming bar. The bartender, Harrison, impressed us with his knowledge and engaging conversation. We almost decided to eat there. We finally sat at one of the tables that had a large, comfortable banquette. The wait service staff were friendly, knowledgeable and informative. My wife and I recognized several of the them from other fine restaurants we’ve previously visited in the area. To start dinner we had fresh salads and a starter, the Ravioli du Dauphine. It’s a large, very delicate pasta filled with corn and a truffle fondue. They both were excellent. For our main course we selected the Whole Branzino for Two. It was served by the Manager at our table on a wheeled cart. He slit it in two and plated it with generous servings of roasted cherry tomatoes, lentil salad and yogurt. The presentation was beautiful. Without a doubt, this was one of the most delicate and enjoyable fish I’ve ever had! It was amazing. We finished dinner with a very tasty berry tart for my wife and a light chocolate mousse as my dessert. Overall, it was a wonderful evening of great food and excellent service in a...