I've been to The Inn at Little Washington about 6 or so times and Will has joined be a couple of times as well, so we decided it was time again to test the only establishment in our area that has earned three Michelin stars and kudos for decades; it did not hurt that we had a certificate for a free dinner for two! I always worry about the close to 90 minute drive, but we made it there in 100+ minutes on Monday afternoon rush hour and home in uabout 85 minutes; not so bad in truth and our meal ran from 6pm-945pm, so not a truly late night out either. Little has changed year over the years and indeed, the place runs like a well oiled vehicle even if the boss, Chef Patrick O'Connell isn't at the helm, and he was not on Monday. The staff are ever more than courteous(the last time, some 14 years ago, we had an awful server), and truly care about your well being, your food and your complete enjoyment and experience.
We sat in the cozy bar at first as we arrived about 10 minutes before the dining room opened. Popcorn in small white boxes(like at the movies) arrived with White truffle oil and parmesan with black Périgord truffle shaved generously all over tableside for effect. The gentleman doing this explained it was the beginning of a true show! Will had a vodka & tonic while I enjoyed a glass of Berlioz Roussane 2015 "Albinum Cuvee" from Savoie(as an opera lover, I could not resist Berlioz!) which was creamy and rich and yummy with the small snacks of marinated olives, but I was nuts over the dried spicy pineapple.
We moved to our table after ordering as you can choose from three different menus(each $238 per person; paired wines are $170 extra!) of vegetrin, seafood and the Gastronaut(our choice).
The dining room hasn't changed at all and I still truly dislike the fringed lamps that overhang most of the tables; I am always afraid I am going to hit my head on it! But if that is the only complaint, then this was a true winning evening. Amuses arrived first with a Compte Gougere and a tiny shot glass of White bean souple with Sage & Virginia country ham. Bread arrived in the form of poppy seed bread rolls and pecan currant rye slices. There was fresh butter with sea salt and a tad of honeycomb on the side as well. I have to say that the poppy seeds got all over the table and I joked that they should have been removed prontissimo(vite,vite) if the staff were watching, but meant it in jest as it was impossible to control the rampant seeds. The second amuse set was a gorgeous Tequila Lime Hoisin Glazed Pork Belly opposite a mini tartelette of Lobster Newburgh. If these were a preview, we were in for a good night (picture available on my FB page).
One of the main reasons for choosing this menu(well it had meat as well) was the first course entitled "Ebony & Ivory" A Bouquet of White Asparagus & Royal Osetra Caviar with Dijon Dressed Peekytoe Crab." I always adore Feldmarkspargl and these must have come from a greenhouse in the Netherlands, as our friends there say they are not yet on their local menus! Delicious nonethesame, the dish was marred by only one thing. A giant slash of lemon aioli which was quite delicious totally overpowered the delicate asparagi! They were wrapped in a phyllo-like crisp savory "cannoli" making it an even more beautiful presentation. A magnificent Lucien Crochet, Le Chene Marchand Sancerre 2016 from the Loire(of course) was a perfect pairing intense with citrus to match the lemon and quite intense as well, though less on the mineral side than many Sancerres I tend to adore.
Carpaccio of Herb-Crusted Elysian Fields Baby Lamb Loin with Caesar Salad Ice Cream is definitely one of the best carpaccios around and wins a prize for coming up with the tiny balls of ice cream and the parmesan sitting in a Romaine leaf for you to sprinkle as much as you desire over the entire plate. Similar to the lemon aioli in the asparagus, this dish had a slash of basil pesto which was more for looks I think as it was not needed at all. The Salwey Rose of Pinot Noir 2017 from Baden, Germany was a nice wine if a little fruity, but still bone dry.
Scottish Sea Trout Poached in Olive Oil on Leek Fondue with Cider Mousseline was another dish created inn heaven and as rich and creamy as it sounds. Foxen Chardonnay Bien Nacido Block UU 2016 from Santa Maria Valley in California was an appropriately creamy pairing. At this point, we asked for a slight rest and again every one of our wishes was their pleasure; excellent near perfection service indeed.
A Marriage of Virginia Bison was the main course consisting of Pepper-Crusted Tenderloin & Braised Short Rib with seared Foie Gras and a Black Truffle Madeira reduction. Black truffle mouse on crostini, baby carrots, turnip puree and potato mille feuille completed the gorgeous dish. Mine was lukewarm and I was okay with that, but Will's came really chilly, so he asked for them to fix that. No questions asked another plate arrived later but it was still not warm and he ate it anyway, but mentioned it to the staff. The cost of the dish was removed from the bill (which was only for the wines, since the meal was free!);again amazing service and true consideration and caring!
That said, I loved the flavors in the dish and the meat was cooked perfectly as well. Flavors were matched with the Avennia Syrah, Arnaut Bouchey Vineyard 2016 from Yakima Valley Washington State which had great pepper notes to match the pepper crust!
A Lilliputian Pomegranate & Maple Dreamsicle arrived as a palate cleanser pre-dessert and was ideal. Three bites of frozen yogurt on a stick with crumble and vanilla ice cream made this a real winner.
There is a choice of a pear dessert or cheeses and we both decided to do the cheese, but order different ones so we had twice as many to taste. I have raved about cheese trolleys all over with Stierereck in Vienna probably being the winner, but the moving mooing cow rolled in by one of the servers had me reminiscing about Milky White in Sondheim's "Into the Woods" which I just saw the week before.
The wine with the cheese was a 2016 Alvaro Palacios Les Terrasses from Priorat made of 90$Garnacha and 10% Carignan and I was worried it might eb too young, but this wine is drinking to perfection and is so full bodied even at 2-1/2 years aging!
Our cheese plates were: St. Stephen(NY State) lavender Triple Creme(I loved it but Will did not), Couple Crotte Goat(Vermont), Kerbenkase an aromatic cheese from Switzerland with pumpkin seeds that we decided is one of our new all time favorites, Black Sticks Blue(from Lancashire in the UK) with annatto seeds(reminded me of orange flavor) that was divinely creamy and rich, Torta del Casar is a Spanish sheep from Extremadura that was also a big winner.
The second plate(my choices) were:Oma from the Von Trappe Farms in Vermont, Jersey Blue(not from Jersey, but from Switzerland!), Houlihan, a farmstead raw cow from Cato Corner Farm in Connecticut, Zimbro which is a sheep from Portugal that can only be served in a spoon as it is so gooey and Cremo de Bourgogne aux Truffes--an awesome cheese that was infused with mascarpone, Italian white truffle oil and Périgord black truffles, making the complete circle from the popcorn at the beginning!
The cheeses come with delicious tangerine-lemon marmelade, raw unfiltered honey from Castleton, Virginia, toasted pecans and demi-sec French figs; all fun a greatly different from your everyday cheese plate.
You can't leave without a post0dessert and we got Valrhona chocolate bars which we could break up which had crispy rice and sea salt in them. On departure everyone gets the miniature paper "Inn" filled with cookies and chocolates just inn case you need a sugar rush on the drive home, or the next morning:-))
We had one little flub all night and it was indeed fixed as best as possible and then we were not charged. There is no question that the Inn is on top and aims to stay that way.
