A meal a month - update: The Inn at Little Washington

[3crazydogs]

My wife and I just got back from an overnighter at the Inn and as it always is for us - it was fantastic. We are fortunate in that this was our 6th time for dinner and third overnight stay. This place really gets all your senses going - from the smell of the oak fireplace, the feel of the soft cushions in the various public room to the comfortable and relaxing color patterns on the walls. It is all about escaping your day to day life and crawling into a cocoon of luxury for a little while.
We arrived in the mid afternoon and as soon as we walked in I knew that the kitchen was busy prepping for the nights service by the smells coming from the kitchen/dining room area.
I could go on about the luxurious room, the nice afternoon tea, the great cocktails but we're here to talk about food and that's where I'm going.

We decided to order off the menu as opposed to going for the tasting menu - we've done both and this time the menu selections looked better to us. My wife is a vegetarian and there were a number of things for her to choose from.

Amuse was great. Bites of smoked cod, beet mousse, country biscuit with ham - enough to seriously whet our appetites.

Second amuse - white bean soup for me and roasted pepper for my wife served with two perfectly cooked gougere. I could have eaten a giant bowl of the white bean soup. Rich, perfectly seasoned and with the subtle flavor of the stock base and the bean puree - man that was good soup.

First Course - A melange of spicy big eye tuna with mango, avocado, crispy shallots and Sake-Yuzu sorbet. What a great way to start the meal. Clean, fresh, crisp - the sorbet melts to sauce the dish and add great counterpoints to the sweetness of the mango. The tuna was top notch - great dish.

Beet Fantasia for my wife - 3 variety of roasted beets, beet mousse and citrus salsa. Looked great on the plate which she confirmed after the first bite. I'm not a beet guy so didn't taste.

In between the first and second course I challenged the bread guy to see who would win - could I eat more than he could bring to the table? He got a kick out of this and kept me well stocked. They have great bread. A wonderful rye with a salted crust and a poppy seed baguette. I could eat the bread all day.

Second Course - Homemade boudin blanc with sauerkraut braised in reisling and mustard scented apple coulis. They did a great job with the sausage. The seasoning/herbs were not overpowering but did their job in complementing the meat. The sauerkraut braised in reisling was very good. A completely different experience than the sauerkraut you're used to getting at most places - made in house and had a mild sour taste which was really great with the wine.

Macaroni and cheese with shaved black truffle for my wife. I've had this before and they do a nice job with this. The mac n cheese is 3/4 covered with a parmagiano reggiano crisp and is rich, velvety and delicious. Once the truffle is shaved on top the aroma of this dish is what gets me. The richness of the cheese, the earthiness of the truffle and the pungency of the parmigiano crisp - this is a dish you definitely smell first.

Main Course - Beef two ways, Pecan crusted barbequed short rib paired with a miniature filet mignon wrapped in swiss chard. This was so good. The filet was sitting on a pool of a mild teriyaki sauce and was perfectly cooked. The flavor of the filet, the chard and the sauce was delicious. The short rib stole the show. Fork tender but full of flavor. Sauced with a mild barbeque sauce which in no way overshadowed the meat, this was perfectly prepared. The braise/slow cook on this was perfect. Still a little pink in the center and just melt in your mouth delicious.

Artichoke filled cappelletti with braised artichokes perfumed with mint for my wife. Beautiful on the plate and lite, delicious and the pasta was perfect.

By this time I was ready to cry uncle - especially with the battle with the bread guy fully engaged.

Dessert and coffee -

Cheese course for me. I have to admit i love the cow that gets wheeled out. Call it cheesy (ouch) but I like it. Gotta have fun with it. Beautiful selection of cheeses and Cameron the bread/cheese guy, always gives a great overview of the selections. He even went so far with one of them to tell us they found out the names of the goats producing the milk - yikes. Plated with house made honey, dried fruit and yes - more bread, this is a great cheese course.

Chocolate menage a trois for my wife - Chocolate creme brulee, chocolate souffle and a chocolate mousse bombe on one plate - what can be bad? This with a glass of 1966 port and she was a happy lady.

And yes, we had a different wine with every course which I forgot to write down which is a damn shame as we tasted a few excellent wines.

By the time we wrapped up dinner and I walked around outside a bit - looked into the kitchen windows, what a great kitchen - I was ready to crash. Needless to say the cookies so thoughtfully left by our bed went un-eaten until the morning.

If you're still with me and want to hear about breakfast I'll give you the abridged version.

As with dinner you always get more than you bargained for. It started with a quartet of juices in double sized shot glasses - this was very cool. Granny smith apple and lemon juice, coconut and white tea juice and two others that for the life of me i cant remember but they were so good. Then they hit you with homemade granola, yogurt and berries - keep in mind you haven't ordered breakfast yet. Breakfast for me - eggs benedict with a citrus hollandaise. Delicious. I was a bit crestfallen that my favorite omelette in the world wasn't on the menu - their lobster omelette - but I was mollified by the basket of pastries that appeared. Flaky croissant, little blueberry muffins and whole grain toast. Accompanied by jams which you order off the separate jam menu - yes there is a separate jam menu. Can you say happy first thing in the morning.

My wife had a mushroom and gruyere omelette which I think is my second favorite omelette in the world behind the afore mentioned lobster masterpiece.

Anyway - breakfast is joy there, as is everything else. Before we left we made reservations for our next meal there - June. Counting down the days already.

Next month - chef's table at Volt.