MIDDLETOWN — Titan Hospitality Group is bringing its Farmhouse concept to Middletown with hopes that one of Delaware’s fastest-growing communities is hungry for something a little different.
The Maryland-based restaurant group will open The Farmhouse Middletown on Aug. 11, at Westown Town Center. The farm-to-fork restaurant is taking over a former Greene Turtle location and will feature scratch-made dishes, locally inspired ingredients and an emphasis on becoming a regular gathering place for the surrounding community.
Scott Selman of CYM Media said the opportunity to take over the popular spot was both familiar and welcoming.
“We’ve become the experts at taking over old Greene Turtle locations,” Selman joked with the Delaware Business Times.
He noted that several of the group’s concepts have opened in former Greene Turtle restaurants in recent years.
The Middletown location also shared characteristics with other markets where Titan has found success, he said.
Titan considers factors including the size of a restaurant space, the surrounding community and the types of food already available before deciding which of its concepts would be the best fit for a new market.
“Based on the size of the location, based on the community and what other types of food are available in the area, we can kind of select one of our concepts and put it into that location,” Selman said.
For Middletown, that concept is The Farmhouse.
The restaurant’s menu will include hand-tossed pizzas, steaks, seafood, seasonal dishes and handcrafted cocktails, along with beer and wine. Titan describes the concept as farm-to-fork, with chefs creating rotating specials based in part on ingredients available through local farms, butchers and seafood suppliers.
“If there’s something fresh coming to us that they can make a dish out of, that gives you something different that you’re not going to get at a place where the menu is always going to be the same and it’s never going to change,” Selman said.
The company also sees an opportunity in Middletown’s growing restaurant market, particularly for a concept that aims to offer a more local feel.
To date, he says the company has already seen strong interest from potential employees with The Farmhouse Middletown attracting more people interested in working there than nearly any Titan opening over the past 18 months, including one in downtown Baltimore.
“We’re hoping that’s a good indication that the community is hungry for something unique and local,” he said.
Titan Hospitality is primarily based in Howard County, Md., and operates concepts across Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia and Delaware. Its brands include The Blackwall Barn & Lodge, Blackwall Hitch, Smashing Grapes, The Lodge and The Farmhouse.
The company expanded into Delaware late last year with The Blackwall Barn & Lodge at the Avenue North Campus in Wilmington.
“As Middletown continues to grow, we’re excited to create a place where neighbors can gather over exceptional food, celebrate life’s milestones, and make lasting memories,” Titan CEO James King said in a press release announcing the move.
That community focus is also central to how Titan hopes to distinguish The Farmhouse from larger restaurant chains already operating in the area.
“We’re trying to be a center of the community,” Selman said. “We’re trying to be a place where people don’t want to just come once a month because it’s a slightly nicer meal.”
Instead, he said Titan wants customers to have reasons to return weekly whether for new menu specials, events or simply the familiarity of a neighborhood restaurant.
“We’re trying to be that part of the community,” Selman said.
The Farmhouse will also offer a private dining room for business meetings, rehearsal dinners, showers, birthdays and other events, as well as an outdoor dining area called The Backyard.
Beginning Aug. 16, the restaurant will also offer a Sunday Harvest Brunch Buffet from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring breakfast and brunch dishes, carving stations, pastries and desserts.
Dining and Cooking