The first stop of the day was Rappahannock Cellers in Huntley, VA for a wine tasting. We had a brief tour of the winery, including the destemming and pressing equipment and a glimpse of some of the fermenting grapes. The tasting was held on the deck and it was an absolutely wonderful, 80 degree sunny day. Eight wines in total were selected, four each of white and red, and while VA wines in general are not my favorite, they were very good. Inside afterward to a large room with plate glass windows that looked over the vineyard for cheese and fruit.
After the winery, we then made our way to Washington, VA to the Inn at Little Washington. The accolades for this place are amazing. Some of the too-many-to list include:
- The Inn was the first establishment in the Mobil Travel Guide’s history ever to receive 5 stars for its restaurant and 5 stars for its accommodation.
- The Inn was the first establishment ever to receive AAA’s highest accolade, the 5 Diamond Award, for both food and accommodation.
- The Inn at Little Washington, and Chef Patrick O’Connell, has received 5 James Beard Awards including: Best Service, Best Wine List, Restaurant of the Year, Best Chef in the Mid–Atlantic and Chef of the Year.
- The Inn has been rated one of the Top 10 Best Restaurants in the World by The International Herald Tribune.
- The Inn at Little Washington dining room is rated number 1 in America by the Zagat U.S. Hotel Survey.
- The Inn has been rated number one in all categories (food, dècor and service) of Zagat’s Washington DC restaurant survey for the past 14 years.
- The Inn’s dining room has been rated #1 in North America, and #2 in the World, by Travel + Leisure Magazine’s ‘World’s Best Awards’.
- The Inn has been awarded Wine Spectator magazine’s “Grand Award” for its wine list every year since 1995.
- The Inn at Little Washington is a member of Relais and Chateaux and their restaurant group Relais Gourmand. Chef Patrick O’Connell is the president of the North Atlantic Relais Gourmand and serves on the International Board of Directors.
- Robert Mondavi awarded Patrick O’Connell the Mondavi Award for Culinary Excellence and labeled him “the Pope of American Cuisine”.
- The Inn received Cigar Aficionado’s “Grand Cru” award for its wine list.
- The Inn received the “Readers Top Table” award in Gourmet’s Restaurant Issue.
It's almost insane how acclaimed this place is, nestled in a tiny town (seven blocks by two blocks wide or something like that) originally laid out by George Washington when he was 17 years old.
We were lucky enough to receive a tour of the kitchen. Oh, what a kitchen.
We were even served coctails in the kitchen, consisting of Virginia sparkling wine and passionfruit juice. Very tasty while trying to keep out of the way!
This, my friends, is but a portion of the restaurant's wine celler. WOW.
Chef Patrick O'Connell was in attendance and nice enough to meet us each. I gawked and told him what an amazing kitchen he had. Yeah, I'm a nerd.
We were then seated for the evening at our tables, assigned places across three tables in a lovely room of the Inn. Luckily, I had the cool people at my table.
The room had three large doors opening to a patio and expansive back area with a gorgeous view of the mountains and we were fortunate that the weather allowed us to eat with those doors open.
The meal began with amuse bouche on the patio while we all snapped pictures and sat in awe of the nature. I got a quick shot of the tiny treats being prepared. They included a beet/raspberry mousse over horseradish sauce and rock shrimp with guacomole (pictured here). Later added were the world's tiniest baked potato and risotto croquettes that weren't on the plate yet. Served on wee spoons for the perfect one bite, I had the shrimp and the potato. They also brought around cheese puffs which were consistent in texture with a cream puff but savory instead of sweet.
We moved inside to be served red and white wine (at the same time, a place after my own heart) from Barboursville Vineyards and began the meal with a demitasse cup of soup the chef called "essence of autumn". I didn't get a picture of this and in truth, it was quite simple looking, but the combination of rutabega, butternut squash, granny smith apples and maple syrup resulted in a sweet and creamy two sips of true fall taste.
The second course involved tune and is described on the website as: A Mélange of Spicy Big Eye Tuna with Mango, Avocado, Crispy Shallots and Sake-Yuzu Sorbet. It was amazing. The combination of tuna with small pieces of avocado and mange was a perfect match, and the sorbet added a sweet taste as it melted down around and over the food. Served with adorable shrimp crisps that melted in your mouth when you bit into them, this was quite possibly the best course of the evening.
Round three is listed on the site as: Fricassée of Maine Lobster with Potato Gnocchi, Green Grapes and Curried Walnuts. The lobster was perfectly cooked and soft and buttery. The gnocchi was very well done, not gluey like it can so easily get. My one argument with this dish was that the curried walnuts were a little overwhelmingly spiced, but the tiny pearl onions, the smallest mushrooms I've ever seen and the sweet grapes balanced it out to some extent.
The meat course wasn't on the sample menu, since so much of it is driven by what is seasonally and locally available. It was a perfectly cooked, tender spare rib over autumn risotto. The meat was like butter, but the risotto left much to be desired for me. It was hard to identify the flavors in it but I got an overwhelming sense of lemon, and the texture wasn't soft or fluffy enough. I ate the rib from this one and left the risotto and sauce on the plate.
Dessert was an apple tart topped with homemade ice cream. While apple desserts aren't my favorite, they are in season and this one was very good. The pastry was soft and flaky, and the tart had a nice coating of sugar syrup. The ice cream was rich and went well with the tartness of the apples.
The meal ends, we go about bathroom breaks before the two hour drive home, and return to the tables to find these adorable little paper houses on our plates. Inside was a variety of treats, including cinnamon cookies, candied citrus peel, some chocolate candy varieties, coconut biscuits. Most of us were too stuffed to eat any more so we took it home.
Overall, a very enjoyable trip with great weather, beautiful scenery and a very delightful and indulgent meal.
2 comments:
good god i'm drooling. is this a normal thing they offer or only to vips like you?
If you work at the university, you can take five classes a year for free through the school of continuing studies, and these trips are through the culinary arts program. Anyone can go though, just need to register on their ActiveNet site right when registration opens (these trips usually go in a few minutes).
Post a Comment