Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, Delaware is unveiling a series of culinary and design enhancements including a new café from pastry chef Leah Ferrara, a private dining room and a redesigned lobby.

Spark’d Creative Pastry + Coffee, Ferrara’s bakery concept, has expanded from its original location in a 350 sq ft café just off the hotel lobby. The opening marks a return to the property for Ferrara, who began her culinary career at Hotel du Pont as a savoury line cook before moving into pastry and founding Spark’d.

The café will offer a rotating selection of seasonal sweet and savoury items, including strawberry basil cookies, caramel rosemary scones, bourbon blueberry doughnuts and cheesesteak croissants, alongside chocolate chunk cookies and handmade butter croissants. The menu will also revive the property’s almond macaroon, using a recipe dating to the 1940s that has historically been served at banquets at the property.

Breakfast and lunch options will include house-made granola, yoghurt parfaits, overnight oats and fresh bagels, while the coffee programme will feature La Colombe alongside espresso drinks including a smoked s’mores latte.

Designed by Stokes Architecture + Design, the café combines the hotel’s historic detailing with Spark’d’s more contemporary aesthetic, with quarter-sawn stained red oak millwork, leathered Naica Quartzite countertops and satin brass accents alongside lavender and violet walls, lemon-yellow leather banquettes and poppy pink seating. Custom red oak café tables were handcrafted by The Challenge Program, a local nonprofit providing vocational training for Delaware youth.

Elsewhere, a new 36-seat private dining room, also designed by Stokes Architecture + Design, draws on the history of the du Pont family through a collection of sketches and watercolours by Sophie du Pont, produced between 1823 and 1833. The works depict landscapes along Brandywine Creek, architectural studies and scenes of family life. The space also incorporates restored hand-clipped marble mosaic flooring originally installed when the hotel opened in 1913, alongside Padua Oak dining tables, ochre velvet chairs and antique oak sideboards.

Finally, a redesigned 1,650 sq ft lobby by Wimberly Interiors is expected to debut this autumn, creating a more intimate lounge-style arrival space. The design will retain the original limestone walls and arched windows, with deep blue velvet draperies, residential-style seating and a palette of sherry, russet, marzipan and moss. Custom hand-tufted rugs will incorporate the hotel’s crest.