Middleton Hall adds fine dining with ‘Date Nights’
Waldorf event hall opens doors as restaurant
Middleton Hall on Renner Road is under the new management of Chef Kendall Selby and Marlene Smith, bringing change to the three-room banquet facility in Waldorf.
Middleton Hall serves as a venue for wedding receptions, birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, corporate events and other special occasions. The hall also offers room rentals, on- and off-site catering services, and opens Wednesday nights as a full-service restaurant.
Selby said cooking has been a life-long passion of his and he was encouraged at a young age to pursue the art.
“My grandmother was the first African-American pastry chef in the Empire State Building,” he said. “She was a heavy influence for me to cooking.”
Selby followed his passion and graduated from The French Culinary Institute in Manhattan, N.Y. He went to work as a chef for a hotel in New Jersey, then advanced to sous chef for the New Jersey State Bar Association. From there, Selby said his career took off.
“I was cooking for judges, lawyers, senators from all over the country, or all over the tri-state area,” he said. “It just mushroomed into big. Then I started running businesses, hotels. It just went from one thing to the next. It just kept growing.”
Selby left his position as sous chef to work as executive chef for a large banquet facility in New Jersey. It was during that time that Selby said he traveled to Africa and cooked for officials in different countries.
“I cooked for some very important people,” he said. “Not many people can say that they have cooked for presidents. [I cooked for the] President of Gambia in West Africa, which connected me to ambassadors from all the different countries.”
Smith handles the financial end of the business at Middleton Hall and said she hired Selby in September of last year with the approval of the board.
“He has turned this place upside down. He’s done amazing things here,” Smith said. “We make a phenomenal team because we just mesh … in a short time we’ve done a lot here.”
In his new role as the hall’s executive chef, Selby said he looks to combine his past work experience with his future vision to transform the hall into the go-to place for banquets, fine dining and entertainment in Southern Maryland.
The hall offers three banquet rooms that range in seating capacity up to 250 guests, depending on the need for an occasion.
The hall also offers off-site, as well as on-site, catering services for holiday parties and special events. Customers can request food delivery and set-up, delivery and dropoff, or can pick up their food at the hall.
“I do Christmas parties for all the Walmarts. All out of here, it’s never been done before,” Selby said. “So all the Christmas parties for Walmart, Sam’s, Costcos, B.J.s, we do them all.”
On Wednesday night of each week, the hall hosts “Date Night at Middleton Hall” that Selby said is designed for friends and family to strengthen and build relationships around food.
“What we’re trying to do is create a nice environment for love, family,” he said. “Rekindling a fire, getting things back together, building a relationship … those are the things that I’m interested in, in the community that I live in.”
The event is scheduled to feature a changing lineup of local musicians and entertainment, as well as a changing menu of affordable fine cuisine.
“My highest priced [menu item] is pan seared Chilean sea bass at $34,” Selby said. “Our 12-ounce ribeye, at $32, I would put it up against all the top steakhouses in the area.”
Selby said that so far, date night looks to be a success with the local community.
“The parking lot starts getting full … 5:30 they’re coming in,” he said. “They’re booking reservations online at Eventbrite.”
Gregory Sutherlin of Waldorf owns an event services company and said he has been working with Selby to help bring updates to the hall.
“Middleton Hall has gone through sort of a transformation that I thought was sorely needed,” Sutherlin said. “It’s one of those things where it’s a nice vessel that has a nice venue, but it just needed a certain touch. I think with the advent of the new menu, the chef bringing in the fabulous food that he has, it’s really stoked a lot of interest in what’s going on.”
Selby said the changes being made are making a difference for the business. “I’ve only been here a year, I’ve turned this business around,” he said. “I can tell by I’m never home, I’m always here. Seven days a week.”
More events are in the works for Middleton Hall, including the start of Sunday brunches in early 2018.
“We’re going to be doing a Sunday brunch the second week of January. My Sunday brunch, I want to offer ever ything,” Selby said. “Filet Benedict, I want to do Lobster Benedict. I want to do made-to-order, but I want to also have buffet. So, you can still do something if you want a special order of something.”
He said he also plans to make more upgrades to the hall and looks forward to the prospects for its future.
“We’re getting ready to upgrade curb appeal, indoors, outdoors. We want this to really stand out,” Selby said. “I want to say that my goal here is to be Charles County’s premier banquet facility.”