Sips And Bites
Dram + Morsel offers small plates, big tastes
For carefully crafted cocktails and sharable small plates, sit back, relax, and check out the scene at Front and Dock’s newest bar and restaurant, DRAM + MORSEL.
The eatery, which opened in December, is modeled after a New York City hotel lounge making it all about the experience. Open after work until late, it’s a place for friends, foodies, and professionals to socialize.
But the hottest topic of conversation is what’s on the menus.
Literally named after a dram, or a drink of spirits, and a morsel, or a piece of food, everything served up aims to delight at first taste.
The cuisine, which is divided into snacks, greens, bites, and treats, could be described as eclectic and worldly served tapas style to encourage mingling. Everything is packed with flavor, but a couple favorites include the deep-fried cauliflower and butternut squash and ricotta agnolotti.
Even the simple dish of bar nuts has a sophisticated flair, served warm, “ovenroasted and spiced”.
The drink menu consists of simple, sophisticated cocktails where “the alcohol does the talking, but the combinations are very tasty,” says Justin Smith, co-owner of the Front and Dock restaurant group that opened Dram + Morsel at 33 South Front Street.
The group also owns The Husk and Yo Sake. Dram + Morsel is situated above The Husk and next to Yo Sake in an area that used to house the private event space, Balcony on Dock. When asked why they decided to make the transition, Smith says, “while we loved the Balcony on Dock business, it just wasn’t a perfect fit with Yo Sake and The Husk. The businesses didn’t complement one another.”
Dram + Morsel’s menu includes nods to its sister establishments, with a “Props to YoSake” tuna sashimi dish and “Props to the Husk” grilled Mexican street corn.
The group decided to stop taking reservations to rent Balcony on Dock in early 2015, providing the time needed transform the space and, “the concept for Dram + Morsel was our top idea,” Smith says.
Renovations started in September 2015 and consisted of adding a hood to the kitchen and two bathrooms and moving the location of the bar.
“It was a longer journey then we expected, but we’re so proud of how it turned out,” says Justin Smith, co-owner of the Front and Dock restaurant group that opened Dram + Morsel.
As for how the new space meshes with the other restaurants in the building, it now works.
“When you’re waiting for a table at Yo Sake and you want to watch the game, you can go downstairs to The Husk or if you want a nice drink you can go upstairs to Dram + Morsel,” Smith says.
Smith has managed bars and restaurants in downtown Wilmington for over twenty years, watching the growth in the number of businesses and foot traffic explode during that time. “Downtown has such a mystique and is really on the cusp of becoming a true metropolitan area. That’s what we’re embracing with Dram + Morsel,” he says. “And with the craft beer boom, there is a whole group of people now interested in trying new things – new beers, new liquors, new everything.”
Select craft beers at Dram + Morsel paying special homage to local and state breweries as well as wine are also available.
A number of ingredients, from the bitters behind the bar to the sauces in the kitchen, are made from scratch – each dram and morsel thoughtfully concocted, but still affordable.
“One of the biggest things we’re hearing is that our prices are appropriate for the portion sizes,” Smith says.
Like with any new bar and restaurant, deciding what to serve was a big part of the process. Together with the other Front and Dock owners, as well as multiple chefs and mixologists, the menus have been distilled, you could say, to the twenty-five dishes and ten cocktail options offered today.
The seating, which is non-traditional by design, features sofas and coffee tables, instead of dining tables and chairs.
“We wanted to give people something different that Wilmington doesn’t have a lot of if any,” Smith says. “Good food is great. Great drinks are better. Good service is important, but the whole experience is what really drives people to a restaurant.”
Dram + Morsel is open 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Thursday through Sunday. It recently expanded into Sunday brunch, serving up full portion plates of its twist on classics like eggs Benedict and French toast, as well as breakfast bowls. Also on tap, weeknights dedicated to tarot card readings, as well as cocktail and wine specials.
To view more of photographer Erik Maasch's work, go ejmphotography.org
