Chester gets taste sensation with new restaurant
Chef Reeky’s enhances Delco dining scene with creative comfort foods
CHESTER » Delaware County’s diverse dining scene is about to get enhanced with the grand opening of Chef Reeky’s. Situated next to the Widener University campus at 1301 Edgemont Ave., Chester, the new restaurant is attached to the Day’s Inn, right off I-95. Its grand opening will be held starting at 11 a.m. on SaturSept. day, 12 and feature a D.J., barbecue specials in the parking lot, and more surprises all weekend.
Open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the BYOB restaurant offers a fusion of breakfast and comfort food, signature dishes, and some vegan fare as well as traditional menu offerings.
“We’re offering high quality restaurant fare at affordable prices,” explained owner Tarik “Chef Reeky” Ryant.
A partnership between longtime restauranteurs Ryant and Frank Dolce, Chef Reeky’s is gearing up to be a longtime staple in the community.
“We wanted to come to Chester because we are excited to be a boost to the community and actually be a part of revitalizing this historic town,” Ryant said. “We want to offer local residents and Widener students something unique — types of food you wouldn’t normally get around here— we want to serve it here, locally.”
“Chef Reeky’s offers not only a
unique menu,” Dolce interjected, “But also freshness and selection.”
Ryant added, “Our motto, which is imprinted on the shirts and hats we wear and on our menus, is ‘Integrity Over Growth.’ We will never sacrifice the integrity of our company to grow faster. Only the freshest and highest quality of food will be on every table and in every take-out order.”
Most food items at Chef Reeky’s are the personal creation of Ryant, an accomplished chef. All menu items are available at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ryant is famous for his signature fused grits, offering many types like the Party Gritz, grits with lump crab, shrimp, and fried fish; the Bleu Magic Gritz, grits with Buffalo Shrimp Scampi and bleu cheese crumbles; and the Mardi Gras Gritz, a creation of hot beef sausage, sautéed shrimp, peppers, onions and cheddar.
Fused dishes also include eggs, omelets, pancakes and waffles, like the Philly, Philly Omelet with steak meat, onions and peppers topped “wit whiz,” the Unforgettable Brunch, with fried chicken, bacon, eggs, sausage gravy and biscuits, and the Wings and Waffles, choice of Maple Fried Wings or Tenders on a Belgian Waffle with two eggs. There’s also Sweet Potato Pancakes,
Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes, Chick’N & Waffle Sandwich, Tofu Scramble, Camel Apple Pancakes and dozens of other offerings, including ten different varieties of breakfast meats.
For lunch or dinner, Chef Reeky’s specializes in unique comfort foods, ranging from smaller bites like Seafood Quesadillas, Cheeseburger Eggrolls, and Cauliflower Bites to entrees that include seafood, BBQ, chicken, sandwiches, rice bowls, burgers and steaks.
Lunch and dinner menu choices are not only plentiful and delicious, but many are also Ryant’s own creations as well. There’s the Widener Wide Body (beef short ribs with garlicky horseradish aioli, fresh mozzarella, and dijon pan jus); Notorious Big Dinner (t-bone steak, cheese eggs and Welch’s Grape 27); Eight Piece Wing Party (BBQ Honey Jerk, General Tso’s, Sweet Thai Chili, Traditional Deep Fried, Spicy Maple, or Garlic and Herb); and Buffalo Chick’n Mac & Cheese (the comfort food classic with Buffalo Chick’n); and more. Many of the restaurant’s dishes are presented adorned with the chef’s signature edible flower.
Vegetarian and vegan options are also plentiful and offerings include the Sweet Potato Black Bean Burger (house-made and served on a vegan Brioche bun with black bean vinegar slaw), the BYOBB (build your own Beyond Burger with individualized toppings), the Vegan BBQ Chicken (sandwich or platter with choice of sides), Sausage & Pepper Sandwich (Beyond Sausage, sauteed onions and peppers with marinara sauce on a long roll, and many more.
Chef Reeky’s also offers “side jawns” like Funnel Cake Fries, Scrapple Fries, and more, plus smoothies, Italian Roast coffee, specialty juices, Tazo, Mighty Leaf and freshly brewed teas and other beverages.
Bryant said he is always happy to customize any dish to the way a customer wants it.
Lakita Cain of Chester, who was dining at the restaurant this week, commented that she is already a regular customer.
“I eat breakfast almost every day here with my daughter,” Cain said. “We like the quantity and selection of food that we get and it’s always really fresh. I am originally from Pittsburgh and the chef made a salad just like I get at home. Whatever you want, they will put it together for you. They are really nice here!”
Bryant and Dolce have made changes in the physical appearance of the restaurant building as well, with new flooring and fresh paint, and they’re not done yet, they said. Once the site of Howard Johnson, Dawn’s Diner, Grape Leaves Diner, and the Lib
erty Diner, Chef Reeky’s has seating for about 165 customers.
The adjoining Days Inn by Wyndham, 1300 Providence Road, will also undergo a transformation soon. Owned by partners Ipe Kurian and Mathew Varkey for 15 years, the Days Inn will soon become a Comfort Inn by February 2021.
“We have to thank the owners of this hotel,” Dolce said. “They are working with us to make this place first class. The improvements they are making to the hotel will definitely help both of our overall image.”
Even during the recent months affected by COVID-19, the Day’s Inn, which has 117 rooms, was at 96% and above occupancy, with 75% of the rooms filled by airport and American Airline employees. The Day’s Inn offers a free 24 hour shuttle to and from the airport. The hotel has a catering hall that can hold up to 250 occupants, which is catered by Chef Reeky’s.
Both Ryant and Dolce have extensive backgrounds in the restaurant field.
Ryant, who was raised in South Philadelphia, got into trouble with the law as a young man, and was sent to do time for five years at State Correctional Institution (SCI) Somerset, south of Pittsburgh. According to the chef, his SCI cell was on the kitchen block so he began to serve meals, help with food prep, and discovered he had a real talent and passion for cooking. The discovery put his life on the right track.
Released in 2003, he enrolled in the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill in Philadelphia, as well as got a job at Jeffrey Miller Catering on Union Avenue in Lansdowne, to learn more of the ropes of his chosen field. From there, he attended the Fox School of Business at Temple University, earning a business degree in 2011. He went on to study further at Temple, becoming an OSHA-certified real estate contractor.
“I’m always upfront about how I got my start in the food business and how my life changed,” Ryant said. “I want young people to know that you really can make a mistake and then turn your life around.”
In 2016, Ryant opened his first restaurant at 6517 Elmwood Ave., Philadelphia. Initially called the “Rhythm and Brunch Café,” the chef renamed it to Chef Reeky’s Café & Juice Bar and it’s still thriving. In 2015, he opened Frankie’s on Fairview in Ridley Township with Dolce.
Dolce and Ryant closed Frankie’s on Fairview two months ago to begin preparation on Delaware County’s first-ever fully vegan restaurant. The pair plans to open “Cheezy Vegan” at the former Frankie’s on Fairview site sometime this fall.
Ryant has been wellknown locally for his vegan dishes, six of which are featured at the Batter and Crumbs Vegan Bakery and Café in Philadelphia, owned by Paul Carmine, a friend he met years ago, when they both worked in catering at Magee Rehab Center. Both Ryant and Dolce said they feel the time is right to open a fully vegan restaurant in the county and as soon as Chef Reeky’s is up and running smoothly, they plan to launch Cheezy Vegan. In the meantime, customers can taste some of Ryant’s vegan specialties at Chef Reeky’s.
Dolce, who graduated Strath Haven High School in 1984, went on to get a degree in Marketing Management at Widener University. He is coming full circle by returning to his alma mater to open a new restaurant where students, faculty and visitors to campus can enjoy good food.
Before opening Frankie’s on Fairview, Dolce had over three decades in the food business as owner of Primo’s Food Service, providing catering to corporate, educational and government entities, as well as operating the cafeterias inside the Delaware County courthouse and in many schools across the tristate area.
Dolce stated that Chef Reeky’s will also cater onsite and off-site events. Dolce says the restaurant is running food programs at St. Francis of Assisi School in Springfield, Holy Family School in Aston and Concord Christian Academy in Claymont for the upcoming school year. He hopes to expand the catering, with more school lunch programs.
The on-site catering is done in the restaurant’s private room that seats 40-50 guests and is perfect for showers, funeral luncheons, corporate, club, and community meetings, graduation and birthday celebrations and other occasions.
“I liked the location of Chef Reeky’s right away,” Dolce said. “It’s close to CrozerChester Medical Center, Widener University, commuters and travelers on I-95 and hotel guests, as well as the Delaware County community. We have plenty of parking for at least 50-60 cars.”
The restaurant co-owners hope to eventually offer some live music during dining and have outside seating by next spring. They also hope to establish food partnerships with Crozer and Widener since they are both within a stone’s throw of the restaurant’s front door. Chef Reeky is also looking into marketing some of his signature spices and creations, such as his Brunch Punch, his Scampi Sauce, and his Reeky’s Seasoning, which always cause customers to rave, he said.
Although the restaurant quietly opened its doors in August, Chef Reeky’s is gearing up for its official opening on Sept. 12 so the owners are still hiring for open positions, including servers, utility workers and cooks.
“We are all really excited for the community to come in and try our food because we are not your ordinary restaurant — we are extraordinary,” Ryant said. “We want Chef Reeky’s to be a friendly place, one that the community will embrace and where they’ll want to come because they know they’ll get superior food and great customer service!” TO GO: Chef Reeky’s at 1301 Edgemont Ave., Chester, is open for business. Hours are 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. A 10% discount is offered at all times to all diners in uniform, including health care workers, police, fire, and military. Orders can be called in ahead of time for pick-up or ordered online at ChefReekyWidener.com/. Food can also be ordered through Uber Eats and Grub Hub. For more information, call 484-480-8846, like “Chef Reeky” on Facebook or @ ChefReeky’s-Widener on Instagram.