Michael Greczy promised “a couple things with a little twist” when he was developing Cobblestone Café at Chandler’s Wharf in downtown Wilmington. Rabbit turned out to be one unusual element.

The newly opened restaurant, located at 225 S. Water St., at Ann Street, serves lots of conventional breakfast and lunch fare such omelets, pancakes, muffins, homemade cookies, smoothies, fruit-and-yogurt parfaits, the classic Cobb salad and a chicken salad sandwich on toasted white bread with a side of fruit.

Studying the menu a little closer reveals a roasted rabbit sandwich with lettuce, tomato and mozzarella cheese on a baguette.

Rabbit is also a meat option on various salads including the Southwestern with roasted corn, roasted peppers, mixed greens and chipotle Ranch dressing.

Low-calorie, high-protein rabbit meat has been getting more attention in the past few years. Modern Farmer magazine recently pondered if rabbit meat might become “the new super meat,” as high-production rabbit farms have less impact on the environment than other animal operations.

The number of U.S. rabbit farms jumped from 4,300 in 2002 to 6,800 in 2007, not counting the recent large number of backyard rabbits raised for personal consumption, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported.

“Until the increase in beef consumption in the 1960s, rabbit was also popular in the United States,” the USDA found. “Today, the interest in lower-fat diets and healthy eating, combined with an ongoing pursuit by chefs and foodies of novel and locally produced foods has led to a domestic resurgence in the use of rabbits for meat.”
 
Marketer and former restaurant worker Greczy, a Maryland native, also shows off crab cakes at Cobblestone Cafe. Three miniature cakes land on a salad of asparagus, diced tomatoes, roasted corn and mixed greens with roasted red pepper vinaigrette. The crab cake sandwich comes on Cuban bread with lettuce, tomatoes and mayonnaise spiked with seafood seasoning. 

Cobblestone also offers “build your own” breakfast options that allow diners to choose from among five breads, five meats and four styles of eggs. 

Homemade lemonade is sold, too.

Open for about a month, Cobblestone Café serves its fast casual menu 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Sunday. Breakfast prices range from $2 to $5; lunch, $5.50 to $10. Locally sourced food means food options and prices are subject to change, according to Cobblestone’s menu. Sundays sometimes bring live music from noon to 2 p.m. Find Cobblestone Café online at http://www.cobblestonecafe.net.

The nearly 2000-square-foot space that seats around 55 people last hosted Barista Café, which closed in 2012.