Inn At Little Washington

A dining experience of a lifetime. Truly great food and ambience. Considered by most professional food critics as one of the 5 or 10 best restaurants in the country. Very pricey and a long drive from almost anywhere, but worth it at least once. (A ... more

A dining experience of a lifetime. Truly great food and ambience. Considered by most professional food critics as one of the 5 or 10 best restaurants in the country. Very pricey and a long drive from almost anywhere, but worth it at least once. (A tad less $ during the week.) Tip: Not far from Skyline Drive, so you can always reserve a room in a lodge there during the season and see the scenery rather than pay more really big $ to stay at the Inn. less

For my 50th birthday we ate at the Inn at Little Washington. The Inn, by the way, is celebrating it's 25th anniversary year. Dinner is pris fixe at $148 on Saturdays and $108 during the week (including Sunday). <br> The Inn is ... more

For my 50th birthday we ate at the Inn at Little Washington. The Inn, by the way, is celebrating it's 25th anniversary year. Dinner is pris fixe at $148 on Saturdays and $108 during the week (including Sunday). <br> The Inn is beautiful inside. Very posh and sort of Victorian. Lots of comfortable chairs and couchs for you as you are waiting for your table. The ceilings are especially interesting, each room's is different, all painted and quite spectacular in their own way. Heavy curtains were tied back to give a view of the garden. <br> The table was a little small for three, but the linens were immaculate and quite impressive, probably a 400 count weave borcade in a snow white. Fresh flowers and a candle made for a nice setting. Since we were on the porch however, the chairs were wicker and a little uncomfortable for sitting in for the two hours it took to have dinner. I would have preferred chairs that were a little less leaned back too. <br> The menu and wine list were presented by the waiter/wine steward who also acted as the head of the service team for our table. (It was obvious he was the boss) The menu for the day wished me a Happy Birthday and everyone made a point of discretely wishing me a happy birthday without making a fuss (No singing thank goodness) <br> Now to the meal. The wine list took me a long time just to read, much less make a selection. It is 60 pages long, and there are a lot of selections on each page. Very heavy in Bordeaux. The wine list, while quite expensive, does include quite a few selections for under $100. (They even have a full page of Virginia wines, mostly Bourbourville) There is also a page full of wines by the glass, and a page of half bottles as well as two pages of large format bottles. <br> Dinner, to say the least, was spectacular. It became a running joke with us that you couldn't empty your water glass or bread plate. Everytime you got close they came buy and filled it again. As soon as the ramakin full of butter was empty, it was replaced. The rolls were crusty twist rolls with poppy seeds and were always hot and smelled heavenly. They also served thinly sliced dark bread with nuts that has a dusting of sea salt in the crust. It was delicious. (I think we must have eaten 5 or 6 rolls each - maybe more for the kid) <br> As we were deciding what to order they brought a tray of canapes, 4 each of 4 delightful bites. A small ham biscuit, a smoked ham and gueyere quiche, a salmon and cream cheese roll on toast, and a baked cheese ball that we could not identify (and forgot to ask about again). <br> For the first course, my wife and I both chose the warm salad of grilled asparagus and fresh water blue prawns with sherry vinagrette. My son had the sole "fingers" with green herb sauce. The asparagus was out of this world, fresh (grown locally apparently) and full of flavor. It came with fresh prawns and smoked ham on top dressed with the vinagrette. Each bite was sublime. Capers and diced egg dusted the plate and added just the right accent. <br> For the second course, my wife had a cucumber sorbet with a cucumber and dill salsa. It was unbelievable. Cool and refreshing, just a little sweet and tangy with the cucumber flavor dominating. I had the pecan crusted soft shell crab tempura with Italian mustard fruit. Fantastic. Lots of flavor, crisp yet not crunchy, and perfectly accented by the tanginess of the fruit and sauce. The boy had the local morel pizza with Fontina cheese, country ham and frizzled ramps. It was cut to be eaten with the fingers and I was afraid that if I tried to take a slice I would have lost mine. It was very good. <br> My wife then had the pistachio crusted grilled lamb chop with forest mushrooms and carrot ginger essence. She asked for it medium well and it came exactly like she asked. It was delicious. The carrot ginger essence was a perfect foil for the tender lamb and pistachios. <br> I had the pan seared tenderloin of veal with wild morel mushrooms, local asparagus and raviolis of Virginia ham and Fontina cheese. Heavenly can't begin to describe this. The veal was so tender it cut with the fork. The raviolis were full of flavor and the morels were plentiful and plump, full of flavor and smelled wonderful. <br> The boy had the Pot-au-Feu of locally raised prime tenderloin of beef and breast of chicken simmered in aromatic broth with root vegatbles and grilled wild ramps. It also was so tender that he could cut it with his fork. He loved it. It came with a tray with horseradish sauce for the beef, a herb and lemon zest for the chicken, (those little french pickles what ever you call them), and sea salt. <br> Then came dessert. What a difficult choice. <br> I love lemon desserts and there wasn't one on the menu. When I said I was disappointed, the waiter suggested the they could make a plate of lemmon tarts for me so I chose that. It came as six small tarts, two each with mirange, blueberrys, and rasberrys. They were grouped around a small pot of lemon curd. It was sooooooo good, lemony and smooth and fresh tasting. They had decorated the plate with Happy Birthday written in chocolate on a marcipan ribbon. <br> My son had the Molten-Centered chocolate cake with roasted banana ice cream. It was out of this world, warm and gooey, lots of dark chocolate and a scoop of the most outragously delicious ice cream <br> My wife chose the Seven Deadly Sins. Small bites of seven desserts. A lemon tart, the molten center cake, butter pecan ice cream, a hazelnut ice cream bar shaved dark chocolate stem, a coconut-pineapple sorbet in a chocolate cup, the pannacotta in passon fruit sauce (out of this world, I almost wish I had ordered it as my dessert) and a apricot-ginger fruit spread on a crisp. <br> Coffee and expresso ended the meal we thought, but then they brought our a couple of straw boxes with small cookies, chocolates, dried fruit and nuts. I couldn't finish them I was so full. <br> Service, of course, couldn't have been better. Bread and water appeared before you knew you were out. Each course was perfectly timed, and served (they used two wait staff to bring each course so all three of us could be served at the same time) Once I had said I wanted to decide when to refill glasses of wine, the steward left it alone in the decanter. They had the art of anticipating what we wanted down to an art. We were never rushed, but we never had to wait either. <br> All in all it was a great experience and this is definitely a destination restaurant. Service is everything you could expect in this type of establishment. The food is spectacular and the presentation glorious. The town is very pretty and the countryside around it beautiful. Was it worth the money, probably. I could get as good a meal in DC for less, but not much and it wouldn't have been quite the same. I am not going to complain. less

This wasn't rated s the best restaurant in the US for nothing. The price is fixed, $128 on weekends, a little less during the wek. They only take reservations for dinner 30 days in advance, and book up immediately. If you stay at one of the roo ... more

This wasn't rated s the best restaurant in the US for nothing. The price is fixed, $128 on weekends, a little less during the wek. They only take reservations for dinner 30 days in advance, and book up immediately. If you stay at one of the rooms, you have a reservation. The cooking is innovative, impressive, and the wine list one of the best around. I know people who have come from London just to eat here. The menu changes with the seasons and whims of the owners. They use locally grown fresh produce and the finest ingredients. Best meal I ever ate. less