HotelWilmington · Opening this autumn
Hotel du Pont adds a pastry café and softer lobby
In Wilmington, a historic hotel is adding new food spaces and a gentler arrival sequence this autumn.
Hotel du Pont in Wilmington is in the middle of a careful refresh, adding a café, a private dining room and a redesigned lobby rather than trying to remake the place wholesale. The first change is Spark’d Creative Pastry + Coffee, a 350 sq ft café just off the lobby from pastry chef Leah Ferrara, who began her career here as a savoury line cook before moving into pastry and founding Spark’d. There is a nice sense of return in that story, and in the menu too: alongside seasonal sweet and savoury bakes, the hotel is bringing back its almond macaroon, made from a recipe dating to the 1940s.
The café, designed by Stokes Architecture + Design, mixes the hotel’s historic character with brighter contemporary notes. There is quarter-sawn stained red oak, Naica Quartzite and satin brass, but also lavender and violet walls, lemon-yellow leather banquettes and poppy-pink seating. Ferrara’s menu runs from strawberry basil cookies and caramel rosemary scones to doughnuts, cheesesteak croissants, granola, parfaits and La Colombe coffee drinks.
Elsewhere, a 36-seat private dining room folds in sketches and watercolours by Sophie du Pont, plus restored marble mosaic flooring from the hotel’s 1913 opening. Later this autumn, Wimberly Interiors is due to unveil a new lobby with original limestone walls and arched windows kept in place, but softened with deep blue velvet drapery and lounge-style seating. One for anyone who likes old hotels being updated with some care.
Our summary of a story from Supper, published 7 October 2026. Read the original
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From Supper