Brûlé Brings the Heat for Pastry Lovers in Dewey Beach

To read the article by Pam George in Delaware Today, Click HERE.

Chase Cline (left) and Dru Tevis are the proud owners of Brûlé Bakery in Dewey Beach. This season, they also have a stall at Schellville. Tevis, a well-known coastal chef, is a past winner of “Holiday Baking Championship” on the Food Network. Photograph by Maria DeForrest.

Star pastry chef Dru Tevis and Husband, Chase Cline, open Brûlé, a new bakery in Dewey Beach.

In December 2022, Dru Tevis’ world changed. The Delaware pastry chef with the signature topknot and enviable abs won the grand prize on the Food Network’s “Holiday Baking Championship.”

Success didn’t go to his head. He continued creating desserts for Thompson Island Brewing Company and Ocean View Brewing Company, and refined his skills in pastry and chocolate classes.

Now, sugar lovers can taste his treats in multiple locations. In September, Tevis and husband, Chase Cline, opened Brûlé, a commercial bakery inside Baked by The Dewey Post. The coffee shop is owned by Lo and Ashley Skarda, who also run The Dewey Post across the street. Baked goods are offered at both locations, as well as at Brûlé’s stall at Schellville, the holiday village in Tanger Outlets.

Tevis, whose career started in restaurants, is also creating desserts for One Coastal in Fenwick Island. Moreover, he’s been the guest at popups at Benvenuto in Milford and Lewes Oyster House.

Brûlée—with two e’s—means “to burn” in French. And based on wholesale and retail business, the bakery is off to a hot start.

“It wasn’t all SMOOTH sailing. One night at MILK BAR, Tevis accidentally filled the cake-flour bin with POWDERED sugar–twice. ‘I had to tell my BOSS and get WRITTEN up,’ he says. ‘I LEARNED [this]: Don’t COVER your MISTAKES. Realize everyone MAKES them. Be OPEN and honest to LEARN from it and MOVE on.’ ”

Matching Tastes

As college students, Tevis and Cline never imagined they’d own a bakery.

A New York University graduate, Tevis fell in love with pastry during a visit to Italy. Poised to study film, he took a summer job at Blue (now Cilantro Cocina de Mexico) in Rehoboth Beach, convinced the owner to let him create a dessert for restaurant week, and debuted a mascarpone brownie. “It went over so well that I realized I was good at this—the feedback was so strong,” he recalls.

A stellar student who relished learning from the pros, Tevis enrolled at the French Culinary Institute in New York (now the International Culinary Center). There, he worked under pastry chefs Kierin Baldwin of The Dutch and Christina Tosi of Milk Bar.

“Sometimes, I think he studied the black arts under the ‘magical pastry elves,’” says renowned chef Matt Kern, owner of One Coastal, who calls Tevis the best pastry chef he knows.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing. One night at Milk Bar, Tevis accidentally filled the cake flour bin with powdered sugar—twice. “I had to tell my boss and get written up,” he says. “I learned [this]: Don’t cover your mistakes. Realize everyone makes them. Be open and honest to learn from it and move on.”

Back in Delaware, he honed his skills with La Vida Hospitality Group and SoDel Concepts.

Meanwhile, Cline grew up in Laurel, dreaming of joining Cirque du Soleil. Instead, he studied French, German, and Japanese at the University of Delaware. During college, he worked for Jimmy’s Grille in Bridgeville and became director of catering. In 2006, Highway One bought Jimmy’s, and Cline spent 18 years there before joining SoDel, first in catering and later in administration.

Kristen Latham, who now owns the Milton Dough Bar, introduced the couple. She’d handled food shots for Tevis at Nage Restaurant and photographed a wedding that Cline catered. “She decided Chase and I were perfect for each other,” Tevis says. “We knew from our first date we had found our match.”

Timing is Everything

Then came “Holiday Baking Championship,” hosted by Jesse Palmer, with judges Duff Goldman, Nancy Fuller, and Carla Hall, who dubbed Tevis a “Dru-nicorn.” “I felt like I won her over on the show, and it was a huge part of me winning,” Tevis says. “A chance to do something directly with her would be an ultimate dream.”

The contestants, many of whom are business owners, formed a bond. Tevis met more risk-takers on his post-show travels, and they sowed the seeds of entrepreneurism. But Tevis and Cline took their time—nearly three years—before opening the bakery. Tevis was taking classes in Las Vegas and fell in love with the food scene there.

However, the commercial kitchen in Baked by The Dewey Post was too tempting to pass up. The partners didn’t need to rent an entire space—Baked manages the coffee shop business—and it was a great way to ease into business.

Unsurprisingly, Cline, the language major, came up with the name. Dropping an “e” from the feminine French word gave it a masculine touch, he explains. Americans associate it with crème brûlée, a custard topped with caramelized sugar.

The name didn’t pigeonhole Tevis into specializing in bread, pies, or cakes. He’s free to make whatever customers need. It’s also a nod to his French training.

The couple didn’t worry about becoming business partners—they’d already collaborated while working for SoDel Concepts. “We were always on the same level, so it worked,” says Cline, who handles everything but baking for Brûlé. “He wasn’t bossing me around.”

Baking up a Future

Although Baked by The Dewey Post has limited winter hours, Tevis will be on-site creating goodies for Schellville and his wholesale clients. He plans to sell cookie boxes—a hit at Thompson Island—and his famous salted blondies.

For Brûlé, he wants to create milkbread dough filled with dulce de leche and brûlée tops, brûlée cookies, and custard-filled croissants.

He’ll also offer whole cakes for preorder online—but don’t expect wedding cakes. “I’ve never been a wedding cake person,” he says. “You can’t be an expert in everything.”

This winter, Tevis and Cline will refine their offerings and track retail, wholesale, and custom orders to plan for the upcoming coastal summer season.

Tevis doesn’t mind the pace. “I’m just as busy, if not busier, than I ever was during my time at SoDel,” he says, “and yet I am so much happier because it’s for me and on my terms.”

For Tevis, life after the anxiety-producing cooking competition has been less about fame and more about focus. Sometimes, a little heat is sweet.