The Inn at Little Washington is a foodie’s fantasy. It’s at the top of the bucket list for those in the know, lauded by the likes of Martha Stewart and other food writing royalty–Craig Claiborne, Julia Child, Jacques Pepin, and Ruth Reichl–as well as celebrities like Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, Ian McKellen, Barbra Streisand, and Paul Newman. “According to People magazine, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds spent the night after their wedding with us,” says Rachel Hayden, director of public relations for the inn, which is also favored by first ladies. O’Connell has cooked for Michelle Obama at the White House, and Laura Bush had her sixtieth birthday party at the inn.
What chef and owner Patrick O’Connell has created in what would seem like the middle of nowhere is, in fact, a destination for discerning travelers worldwide. Situated at the top of the
Blue Ridge Mountains’ Skyline Drive (which makes this getaway even more lovely for leaf peeping in the fall), the tiny hamlet of Washington, Virginia, population 158, is defined by this luxurious experience.
The Edible Performance
A once-in-a-lifetime experience is the only way to describe a meal here. No two will ever be the same, as each diner experiences a seven-course chef’s tasting menu set to a performance of plates carrying edible voyages.
The dining room seats only thirty tables beneath rose colored hanging lamps; each is intimately enveloped in a low glow wrapped in historic tapestries. The only choices to make are what wine to drink (a mere 14,000 bottles from which to choose, luckily with the help of a sommelier) and which seven course menu path you will take (Enduring Classics, Menu of the Moment, or The Good Earth vegetarian creations). The next several hours are an unforgettable culinary adventure.
For our fifth anniversary last fall, my husband and I visited The Inn at Little Washington to celebrate. If O’Connell’s cuisine is good enough for Queen Elizabeth II, I figured it was good enough for us. Our perfectly branded experience began with a red and white striped box of sweet and salty popcorn with freshly tableside-shaved black truffle. Local Rappahanock oysters, herb crusted lamb carpaccio from Jamison farms in Pennsylvania served with Caesar ice cream that blew our minds, filet of Antarctic sea bass with lemon vodka sauce and a Lilliputian shrimp and pork dumpling, and a palate cleansing raspberry "rocket pop" intermezzo before dessert—just a sampling of courses we enjoyed.
Not one with a sweet tooth, for my seventh course, I went with the post-dinner cheese selection, complete with cheesy jokes that had me in tears, laughing. Cameron, the “Resident Cheese Whiz,” and Faira the cow come by the table and display the fromager’s selections, complete with “udderly” fantastic descriptions that won’t leave you feeling blue, because everything’s better with cheddar.
If you’re lucky enough to take a tour after dinner, Chef O’Connell’s kitchen is a work of art itself, inspiring the creations plated on the line. All of the chefs wear Dalmatian print pants (an homage to O’Connell’s past dogs of the inn). A painting of two of the dogs hangs in a foyer and resonates as a theme in the exquisitely procured boutiques on the property; even the scarecrow in the culinary garden wears the signature chef pants.
We delighted in flights of freshly pressed juices in the morning, with house made yogurt and granola, while overlooking the gardens for breakfast. Then it was off for a scenic country drive in the house Bentley. That’s right. You know you’re somewhere special when the concierge tells you to go ahead and take the Bentley.
We lingered longer to stroll the expansive chef’s gardens and to see the darling chicken coop and its brood, as well as the sheep and the llamas, all residents of the twenty-six-acre property.
What was once a gas station, transformed in 1978 to a restaurant, has become a nationally acclaimed Capitol-area treasure at the forefront of refined American cuisine, led by this self-taught chef with an eye for design and a dream.
Collaborating with London stage and set designer Joyce Conwy Evans, O’Connell created the Inn at Little Washington’s beloved English country house aesthetic, which is also full of whimsy and wonder. From traditional English fabrics and furnishings, rooms transition to fanciful fun, like monkeys peeking from ferns or the Moroccan inspired tea room that transports guests with an afternoon tradition.
More Room at the Inn
The pair’s newest renovation, the Parsonage, recently added six new sumptuous guest rooms, for a total of twenty-four rooms available. The 6,000-square-foot 1850s Victorian house opened in May 2014.
“We measure the success of all our projects with the same simple standard,” O’Connell says: “When completed, each one should feel as if it has always been here just as it is. Nothing should ever look newly constructed. Of course, this can be a difficult and costly effect to achieve, but it’s always worth the effort, especially in a town which dates from the 1700s.”
At the entrance is a surprisingly exotic, Moorish-inspired, glass-enclosed conservatory with soft green hues. Serene shades blend seamlessly with the outdoors viewed from bay windows with window seats, where fireplaces in each room flicker with warm light inside. Traditional prints like William Morris tulip wallpaper carry the English country feel from the main building across the street. Beautiful bathrooms feature Waterworks tile, Carrara marble vanities, and sumptuous Bulgari amenities. The junior suite boasts an enormous soaking tub big enough for two, so you can overlook the gardens while sipping morning coffee.
“Sometimes we ask ourselves what George Washington might have thought about a recently completed project,” explains O’Connell. “We know he would have loved the Parsonage. The house is so happy to have been rescued and given back the identity it deserves.”
Unparalleled hospitality by the inn’s staff and bellman in period attire adds to the theatrics of the stay.
“It gives me great pleasure to know that we have assembled a team of people here who have made ‘The Inn’ a huge part of their lives. Some have been with us more than twenty years, and, in some cases, we are now employing their children as well,” says O’Connell. “It's also extremely rewarding to be welcoming guests who've been celebrating major life occasions with us for three decades and to now be welcoming their children and grandchildren as guests.”
What's next for The Inn at Little Washington? O’Connell was recently given a street by the town, which he’s working on transforming. “We're also remodeling a building across the street, which will become a bakery and sidewalk café. We'd like to create a spa in the next couple of years and build a lake in addition to having a little cheese shop and tea house.” In addition to The Inn at Little Washington: A Magnificent Obsession, which O’Connell penned and released this year, he says a memoir is in the works at the moment, “and we're doing a television documentary which [we shot] this summer.”
As for fall flavors to whet the palate in preparation for your visit, “[The menu, printed daily] will evolve as we see where we are with local ingredients at any given point in time—new dishes are incorporated as they are ready,” explains Hayden. But one thing is certain: fall will be fabulous as always at “The Inn.”
The Inn at Little Washington 309 Middle St., Washington, VA www.theinnatlittlewashington.com 540-675-38000
