Tucked inside a small shopping center along Coastal Highway in Fenwick Island, Delaware, sits a 49-seat restaurant that’s produced the state’s only James Beard Award finalist. 🦪
One Coastal first opened in 2014, founded by Scott and Carlie Carey as a farm-to-table extension of the family farm where Carlie grew up.
Since 2022, the restaurant has been owned by chef Matt Kern and his wife Karen, who’ve turned it into one of the most nationally recognized hidden gems in the entire state.
How One Coastal won Fenwick Island’s hearts
Scott and Carlie Carey built One Coastal from a genuinely personal place, combining her family’s farm in Frankford with his roots in Fenwick, after the two reconnected on the locals’ beach and married soon after.
The restaurant opened in a strip center that had previously housed a sandwich shop, and the Careys ran it as a true extension of their farm just nine miles away, growing organic produce specifically to feed the menu.
The Careys eventually decided to sell, and that’s when Matt Kern, a dishwasher-turned-chef with deep Delaware roots, and his wife Karen stepped in.
Matt spent a month working as executive chef under the Careys before the ownership transfer was finalized, then spent another month repainting and redecorating the dining room before reopening under new ownership in early 2022.
That partnership paid off historically: in 2024, Matt became the first-ever chef from Delaware to be named a James Beard Award finalist in any culinary category, and he’s since earned three total nominations from the prestigious foundation.
Kern has continued the restaurant’s farm-to-table commitment, sourcing from regional partners like East View Farms, Trueth Farms, and Chesapeake watermen to build a menu that changes with the seasons.
More than a decade after the Careys first opened its doors, One Coastal remains proof that a tiny, unassuming dining room can quietly produce some of the most celebrated cooking in the entire region.
Food Highlights
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Heritage Duroc Pork Chop: A Duroc pork chop served with blistered Jimmy Nardello peppers, roasted okra, trumpet mushrooms, toasted vidalias, arugula, charred eggplant purée, and sauce bordelaise. 🐖
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Corn Fried Chesapeake Blue Catfish: Cornmeal-crusted catfish served over antebellum grits with collards, Benton’s bacon, shrimp head gravy, and muddy pond sorghum.
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Chesapeake Tilefish: Charred squash and zucchini, emmer farrotto, toasted vidalias, Jimmy Nardellos, baby spinach, tomato gravy, and basil chermoula. 🐟
- New Jersey Day Boat Scallops: Fresh scallops plated with sweet corn, blistered shishitos, toasted vidalias, oyster mushrooms, baby spinach, sweet corn purée, and a peach gastrique. 🦪
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Trueth Farms Grass-Fed Ribeye: A 22-ounce grass-fed ribeye served with beef fat purple Adirondack potatoes, Cherokee peppers, toasted vidalias, trumpet mushrooms, and Virginia peanut romesco.
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Old Bay “Togarashi” Crusted Yellowfin Tuna: Yellowfin tuna crusted in an Old Bay-togarashi blend, served over scrapple-fried Carolina Gold rice with yellow wax beans, shishitos, and a red curry emulsion. 🌶️
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Cacio e Pepe: House-rolled capellini tossed with toasted black pepper, real butter, and Grana Padano. 🍝
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Mishima Reserve Wagyu Steak Tartare Tostada: Wagyu beef tartare served over a blue corn masa tostada with ancho beef fat vinaigrette, aji amarillo preserves, salsa macha, and egg yolk.
Atmosphere
One Coastal keeps things intimate, with just 49 seats tucked into a modest shopping center storefront that gives little away from the outside. 🏖️
The dining room feels understated rather than flashy, letting the food and seasonal cocktails do most of the talking.
Outdoor dining is available weather permitting, a nice bonus given the restaurant’s proximity to the Delaware beaches.
It’s the kind of place where a plain exterior gives way to genuinely serious, farm-driven cooking. 🌾
Bottom Line
Visit for cooking from Delaware’s first-ever James Beard finalist, a true farm-to-table menu built on regional partnerships, seasonal seafood and produce that changes constantly, an intimate 49-seat dining room, and proof that Fenwick Island’s best meal comes from a hidden gem with zero flash. 🦪
Address:
101 Coastal Highway, Suite 6, Fenwick Island, DE 19944
📞 (302) 537-4790
🕔 Open Tue-Sun, 5 PM–9:30 PM (closed Monday)