President Joe Biden stopped by a longtime Wilmington restaurant Saturday evening that hosted his daughter’s 2012 wedding.
After attending a Mass Saturday evening at St. Joseph of Brandywine Catholic Church in Greenville, Biden went to dinner at the home of his sister Valerie Biden Owens.
He wasn’t ready to stop there. Around 8:50 p.m., the president’s motorcade dropped him off at Restaurant Piccolina Toscana in The Trolley Square neighborhood in Wilmington.
Biden was visiting his campaign management team, which was meeting at the Italian restaurant at 1412 N. Dupont St. for a weekend retreat, according to a report from the White House press pool.
It’s unclear if Biden had a snack, but you certainly can’t go wrong with a Toscana wood-fired pizza or one of his signature breadsticks.
The president did not stay long, and the motorcade left the restaurant for his home in Greenville about 20 minutes later.
Toscana owner Dan Butler said the president’s visit Saturday was somewhat of a surprise.
“I wasn’t sure he was coming. We didn’t find out until a few minutes before he arrived,” Butler said. “He wanted a photo with the staff. We had just served the appetizers, so we had a moment to drop everything and come together for the photo. My staff was ecstatic.”
Butler added, “Joe truly understands the impact he has on the people who are fortunate enough to meet him. As many Delawareans already know, he is very personable.”
The Biden family has been known to frequent Piccolina Toscana for years. When he was a senator and then vice president, Biden and first lady Jill Biden dined at the restaurant, which has been part of the Delaware dining scene since 1991. He sometimes took his mother, Catherine, who died in 2010, there.
Butler has known the Bidens for years. He said Biden, a longtime client, had not been to Tuscany since he became president.
“It’s always exciting when the Secret Service is buzzing and the motorcade arrives,” Butler said. “My team will be talking about this for years.”
In 2012, Butler and his Toscana team hosted his daughter Ashley Biden’s 2012 wedding reception at Biden’s Greenville home.
The meal consisted of fresh tomatoes, arugula and homemade mozzarella, seared salmon and quinoa, and roasted chicken breast with grilled vegetables. It also included penne with Pomodoro sauce, a dish prepared especially for then-vice president Biden.
“Joe always eats pasta when he comes to Tuscany,” Butler told Delaware Online/The News Journal.
Robbie Jester, former executive chef of Toscanawho has since appeared several times on Food Network and won the Netflix cooking competition “Pressure Cooker,” prepared an antipasto table, set up near the pond on the Biden property.
It was a rustic spread loaded with olives and a variety of dishes, including cheeses from DiBruno Brothers in Philadelphia, slices of deli meats, bowls of oven-dried tomato salad, roasted artichoke and mushroom salad, homemade tomato relish, and containers of breadsticks (long, thin, crunchy Italian breadsticks).
At the end of the evening, as the Toscana staff began clearing the tables, Biden began helping out.
“He was stacking chairs,” Butler said until one of the staffers asked Biden to stop. “He said, ‘I can’t let my boss find out you’re stacking chairs.’ (Biden) kind of laughed.”
Biden’s campaign team, headquartered in downtown Wilmington, has already visited Piccolina Toscana. They spent $1,030.00 at the restaurant on New Year’s Eve, according to Biden committee filings for president that reported his spending through Jan. 31.
President Biden is a well-known fan of Italian cuisine and its culture.
At the National Italian American Foundation’s 48th anniversary gala in October 2023, Biden joked: “I’m Jill Biden’s husband. You know, I might be Irish, but I’m not stupid. I married the granddaughter of Dominic Giacoppa.”
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In recent months, while visiting his Delaware homes, Biden has dined at At Madame Robino’s, The What And Rocco Italian Grill & Sports Bar, all in Wilmington.
The president returned to Washington on Sunday evening.
News Journal reporter Ryan Cormier contributed to this article.
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