Page 38 - The Hunt - Winter 2022

MEMORANDUM
Hank’s Place owners Katie and Anthony Young stand in the gutted remains of the Chadds Ford eatery.
Restaurant Possible
The beloved Hank’s Place is on the rebound, but it’s been a long road.
On Aug. 31, 2021, the day before Hurricane Ida decimated Chadds Ford, employees at Hank’s Place elevated chairs, tables and whatever else they could manage. That evening, though it was only drizzling, an NBC10 van was stationed in the parking lot, an unsettling omen for what was to come.
Hank’s Place owners Katie and Anthony Young checked the rain gauges for the Brandywine River, then headed home. When PECO Energy called to say it was cutting the power lines above Hank’s Place, the Youngs knew they were sunk. The river would rise more than 21 feet, the highest level on record. Inside the beloved restaurant, everything was left floating in more than seven feet of water.
By J.F. Pirro
wood. “It was a tsunami,” Katie says. “It wasn’t, but I call it that.”
More than a year later, the waterline is still visible under the hanging baskets above the restaurant’s entry ramp. Vegetation grows in the gutters, and the meticulously maintained feed-trough planters recovered from Route 1 after the storm remain unkept. Three storage trailers sit in the parking lot. “That night, we were in shock,” Anthony says. “Once the gas was shut off, we could finally enter—and that was the ‘oh shit’ moment. Fish were swimming around with unrefrigerated food. There was the nice ripe smell of the Brandywine in our dining room. It’s a beautiful river—until it’s in your dining room.”
May 2017 from Peter and Voula Skiadas, owners for 16 years. It’s been around
since 1950. Under the moniker of Blue Door Hospitality Group, the Youngs are committed to rebuilding the local landmark, named decades ago by proprietor Hank Shupe. For a year now, they’ve navigated friction from neighborhood opponents, township bureaucracy and other challenges. The process must cycle through a historic architectural review board, sewer, zoning and planning commissions, and a board
of supervisors. All stages are fraught with potential pitfalls.
The couple has also moved forward on another location in Kennett Square. Hank’s on Birch (formally the Birch Inn) is open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch. They
Today, there’s only a smelly shell of rotting
12 THE HUNT MAGAZINE winter 2022-23
The Youngs bought Hank’s Place in
JIM GRAHAM