Biden’s final Quad Summit shines light on Archmere, Bardea

CLAYMONT — President Joe Biden welcomed three world leaders on his home turf for his fourth and final Quad Summit, opting to showcase his Delaware roots on an international stage by hosting meetings and press conferences at his alma mater Archmere Academy on Saturday.

The Quad is a four-nation partnership between the United States of America, Australia, India and Japan and was forged in 2004. Biden has been bullish in forging international alliances as China grows more influential in global affairs. It also proved as a chance to formalize strategies and initiatives to all four countries, including a $150 million commitment for funding HPV therapeutics across the Indo-Pacific nations. Other initiatives discussed included joint Coast Guard operations, increased military logistics cooperation, a new radio access network and more.

It may also be Delaware’s most high-profile event hosted during the Biden administration. The president has remained proud of his First State roots and often spent weekends at his Greenville home or his beach house in Rehoboth Beach. Several cabinet members have made stops in the First State, such as U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the U.S. Small Business Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman.

On Saturday afternoon, Biden held private receptions for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi before a motorcade took the four world leaders to the Catholic school in Claymont.

For Archmere Academy Head of School Michael Marinelli, it all started with a private call from the president himself a few weeks ago.

“He said the White House was organizing an event and he’d like to host it at Archmere, but one of the main things he said was to don’t change things and they’ll work around us. And they did,” Marinelli told the Delaware Business Times. “One of the reasons he mentioned was the Patio, and how it would be a perfect venue.”

The Patio at Archmere Academy is as grand as the private Catholic school’s history. The Claymont school traces its roots to the 1900s when DuPont executive John J. Raskob and his wife raised their 13 children and transformed the property from a single farmhouse to a grand estate designed in renaissance Italian architecture. 

The Patio is a mansion built in 1916 with columns and a courtyard with a fountain in the center, and its crown jewel may be the 125,000-piece stained glass skylight over the central court. Now serving as an atrium, Archmere Academy hosts several events there for students, including its junior and senior proms as well as ring masses, where seniors are presented their class rings. It can also be rented out as a wedding venue.

“The president thought it would be a great venue for his final meeting like this, and he’s always said this place held so much meaning for him,” Marinelli said. “An Archmere priest helped him get control over his stutter and helped gain his confidence.”

After hosting the Quad at Archmere’s Patio, the space was also transformed for dinner for 150 people in all four international leaders’ entourage, support staff and security. As another Delaware touch, Bardea Executive Chef Antimo DiMeo prepared and plated the dinner.

“I think I’m still in shock over it,” DiMeo told DBT on Tuesday morning. “It hasn’t really settled in my brain, it’s pretty wild. I can’t imagine a higher honor in the world than not just cooking for Biden but for prime ministers of some of the most powerful nations in the world.”

The Bidens are known patrons of Bardea, the rising restaurant group started by Scott Stein and father and son duo Antimo and Pino DiMeo which now includes five concepts in Wilmington. Biden himself first came by in 2019 for First Lady Jill Biden’s birthday and they ordered spaghetti and meatballs. Jill Biden and many of their grandchildren have stopped by over the years since.

The White House first reached out to the Bardea team weeks ago about catering a future event. It wasn’t until mid-September when DiMeo was told it was for an international event for 150 people, including the president.

The menu featured a caprese salad with mozzarella di bufala (Buffalo cheese imported from Italy), a Washugyu strip steak – Biden’s choice dish when he did come to Bardea — as well as lemon risotto topped with pistachio and black lime. The vegetarian dinner option was root vegetable pave, while the pescetarian option was red snapper.

Dessert was a classic trio of gelato – vanilla bean, chocolate and pistachio. It was served with a cookie crumble and a pizzelle.

“Having three dinners at one time was pretty insane, but we also had to make canapes for a bunch of people and an individual dinner for the leaders,” DiMeo said. “This all happened during restaurant week, and so we had to figure out how we were properly staffed at the restaurant. But we all came together and made this happen. I’m just so grateful we could share this moment with the rest of the team.”

It’s hard to say at this time what the visibility means for Bardea, but DiMeo said it may become clearer as more time has passed from the Quad Summit. But for the 32-year-old chef, who already received James Beard nominations and worked at a two-star Michelin restaurant in Italy, it already has become an honor of a lifetime.

“I don’t know if I’ll have another opportunity like that. There’s no other higher honor in the world we could have gotten,” he said.