WILMINGTON — It was almost déjà vu on Monday, Jan. 12, when Cameron Garvey walked into The Pilot House for his first day on the job as executive chef. He was surrounded by some familiar faces, though their surroundings were all new.
Garvey worked for seven years at Pinpoint, but had to find a new job once its closure was announced in December. Part of his transition to the almost 50-year riverfront restaurant came with more than a half-dozen crew members joining him. Pinpoint’s sous and pastry chef, Brandon Bozeman, front-of-house manager Mark Sloan, and all the kitchen cooks were hired in various positions at The Pilot House as well.
READ MORE: Pinpoint to close, new Mediterranean spot taking over in 2026
“I brought it up a lot in the interview process,” Garvey said, noting that was the hardest part of facing Pinpoint’s closure — realizing a team of people who gelled so well together would go their separate ways. “In my time being at Pinpoint, that crew we developed was the best crew we had all at once. Everyone works well together, has a great attitude and that’s hard to get in the restaurant industry — and any other kind of business, for that matter.”
The back-of-house cooks start this week and though the team mentality will still be intact, the new digs means also learning new ropes. Garvey said he is viewing the change as a welcome challenge in this step of his career. Pinpoint, which officially closed after New Year’s Eve service, served dinner Tuesday through Sunday, while The Pilot House does lunch and dinner service, not to mention banquets, weddings and the like.
“You can rent out the restaurant or an area for an event,” he said, “so there just seems to be a lot of opportunity here to grow.”
Day one was spent chopping vegetables, ordering from local farmers and prepping after the restaurant was closed the first week of the year for maintenance. But by Saturday, Jan. 17, Garvey was on the line, churning out roughly 60 tickets for dinner service.
“The crew worked together beautifully and that’s all you can ask for,” he said.
Garvey began his culinary career in Virginia Beach — having learned to cook from his family members of Polish-Italian heritage. He would make pierogi, kielbasa and chrusciki (deep-fried dough with powdered sugar) with his grandmother frequently and also loved Food Network shows.
It wasn’t until high school that he won a scholarship to the Colonial Williamsburg Apprenticeship Program, which he called buttoned-up, maybe a little militant. There he learned every station in the kitchen, from saute to cold prep, pastry to butcher.
“I’m not a book person, not a school person — I need to do the damn thing” he said with a laugh. “That’s what stuck out to me: day one you’re in the kitchen.”
Garvey added the structure of the program fueled his passion more and if anything bolstered respect and organization for the industry: “You have to come in with fresh-pressed whites, on-time is late so come in 5 to 10 minutes ahead of time, and .. you have to master everything before you move on to the next station.”
He went to the Caribbean and Florida for internship opportunities during his apprenticeship tenure, but Garvey’s first gig out of school was working at the Williamsburg Lodge. He wanted to brush up more on banquet dining and did so for a year before landing on a 2018 post for an open position at Pinpoint.
After doing a stage there, and surfing some killer waves locally, Garvey decided Wilmington was where he wanted to be. He worked under Chef Dean Neff, who opened Pinpoint with Jeff Duckworth in 2015; Neff left in 2019 to pursue his own culinary businesses, including Seabird and Zora’s. Garvey worked his way through the Pinpoint kitchen before eventually becoming executive chef in 2021.
“My time at Pinpoint, you’re working so close with the people who grow the food,” Garvey said, adding this approach continues to inspire him most.
He is looking forward to bringing an even more granular focus on seasonal, chef-driven food to The Pilot House: “I’m not so stuck on one cuisine — like Southern food or Asian or Italian, whatever — it’s really about being as local as possible.”
Garvey works with area farmers, such as Morgan Milne of Red Beard Farms, Mike Torbett at Terra Vita, plenty of oyster farmers, and Joe Choi of Wholesome Greens. Choi introduced Garvey to the open position at The Pilot House through a mutual contact, Chris Vergili, the culinary director of both The Pilot House and Elijah’s. Riverwalk Hospitality Group, owned by CEO Taylor Stamfield, purchased the restaurants in 2018.
“We feel incredibly fortunate to have found Cameron — not just for his culinary talent, but for the kind of leader and person he is — and we couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead,” Katie Edmister, director of operations at Riverwalk Hospitality, wrote in an email to PCD.
Vergili agreed: “This industry is tough, especially when it comes to finding talented people who align both professionally and culturally. Cameron is the kind of leader people want to follow, and that speaks volumes. His ability to build trust and strong teams is one of the things that makes him special, and we’re excited to support him in this next chapter.”
The Pilot House opened in 1978, though its historic building dates back 100 years before — once a workshop for wooden barrels, used to transport items from the port’s naval stores. The building was moved from Wooster Street to its current location and then became an eatery, drawing in locals and tourists alike for its riverfront views.
Though Pilot House endured a refresh and menu change last spring, Garvey said he expects his imprint to debut on a new menu by March.
“It’s not all set in stone yet,” he said. “I started working on some things literally this morning. So I don’t want to give too much away right now as things can change in the next month or so.”
However, the Valentine’s Day prix-fixe will be all-Garvey and his team, featuring deviled eggs with caviar, baked oysters, fresh fish crudo, granita, lamb, butter-poached shellfish and an orange-chocolate tart. The Pilot House accepts reservations here.
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