ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 17, 1996 TAG: 9604170003
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SERIES: Taste of Virginia
SOURCE: DONNA RAGSDALE NORTHERN VIRGINIA DAILY
For chef Patrick O'Connell, every dinner holds the potential for a unique performance.
The setting for O'Connell's nightly show is a white clapboard house with balconies reaching from nearly every window and colorful flags waving out front.
There are no signs marking the former drama student's culinary stage that bears the name of the Inn at Little Washington. And there's no chance of getting seats for an evening performance without reservations, which are available up to a month in advance.
O'Connell said word of mouth brings people to the inn in the small town of Washington in Rappahannock County, about 90 minutes from Washington, D.C.
With a 12,000-bottle wine cellar, a menu that changes nightly - depending on what's in season - and an interior created by a London set designer, the inn is a constant draw.
Those who have reserved a seat at the five-star restaurant and inn include Paul Newman, who celebrated his 64th birthday there, and writer James J. Kilpatrick, a former Rappahannock County resident who patronized the inn even in its early years.
O'Connell said celebrities might be spotted once or twice a week, but one reason they come is so they won't be spotted.
``It amuses us that so many celebrities will come and not be recognized,'' he said. No one recognized Newman even as he jogged through the town, he said.
Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Washington is surrounded by forests, old farmhouses and acres of green pastures.
``We like it much better once the highway bypassed it. It was left in time,'' said O'Connell, also co-owner of the inn.
Because the inn is removed from the concrete and steel of the city, O'Connell said its feel is more comfortable than many upscale restaurants. He said the idea is for people to feel like they are visiting a ``wealthy relative in the country who really likes to cook.
``We realize that people are driving, making a journey to get here. We try to give them something that they couldn't get in a city restaurant,'' he said.
Winner of a 1993 James Beard Foundation award, recognized by the International Herald Tribune as one of the 10 best restaurants in the world for 1994 and listed as a Mobil five-star restaurant for the fifth consecutive year, the inn settles for nothing less than a perfect experience for its guests, O'Connell said.
If a waiter asks how everything is and the answer is ``good'' or ``fine,'' O'Connell said he feels that he hasn't done his job.
``We keep working with it until they say `wonderful,' `fantastic' because that's what they're expecting,'' he said.
O'Connell said the inn tries to be all things to all people.
``They all have their own little fantasy, and you have to make it a reality,'' he said.
The ``fantasy'' is created with atmosphere, food and service. The garden room, terrace room and main dining room come alive with luxurious patterns that dance quietly on the walls and furniture and through an aroma that draws one to the dinner table. Classic inn foods prepared by O'Connell, who has virtually no formal culinary schooling, include seafood entrees, unusual appetizers and desserts such as the Seven Deadly Sins that takes several minutes to describe.
This fantasy restaurant began in 1978 with a vision and little else.
The lure of the country first drew O'Connell and his partner, Reinhardt Lynch, to buy a farm outside Washington in the early 1970s. The partners used local produce to create the foods that helped them become a success in the catering business.
When the business demanded that the partners either expand their operation or open a restaurant, they chose to settle down in the town. They began renting a run-down dance hall, general store and garage for $200 a month. O'Connell said town residents thought the rent was ``highway robbery'' because the building was in such a state of disrepair that local ``winos'' wouldn't go inside because they were afraid it would fall in on them.
As O'Connell and Lynch renovated the building, they also visited some of the best restaurants and inns in Europe to gain inspiration and knowledge.
``Every year, the gap between what they were doing and what we were doing closed a little,'' O'Connell said.
Now that there is no gap between the two, according to many publications and critics, O'Connell and Lynch are moving on to new goals. Having bought 14 pieces of property in Washington, the partners are restoring the town one piece at a time. They also are planning to expand the inn with a showplace kitchen and a new wine room.
``I don't think we will ever run out of projects,'' Lynch said.
O'Connell also is working on his first cookbook. Due out by Christmas 1996, the book will contain about 100 recipes that O'Connell says most people can follow, along with tidbits about Washington and the inn.
``What is kind of unique about it is that it is sort of regional,'' he said. ``We are trying to bring people to the area, to this part of the world through the book. Even if they may be living in Kansas and may never be able to afford to come here, they will have a sense of this journey.''
Setting the scene for people through his book and for guests of the inn, O'Connell directs new experiences for all who make the journey.
``I have a very fluid sense of vision,'' he said. ``I move in and out of fantasy.''
Recipe for:
TIMBALE OF FRESH CRABMEAT
AND SPINACH MOUSSE
Crabmeat and egg custard:
ROASTED RED PEPPER GARNISH
Name: The Inn at Little Washington Address: Middle & Main streets, Washington, Va. Phone: (540) 675-3800 Price range: (Fixed price) Sunday-Thursday, $78; Friday, $88; Saturday ,$98 Hours: Dinner only Reservations: Yes Payment: Visa, Mastercard, check Alcoholic beverages: Yes Non-smoking section: Yes Handicapped accessible: Yes
LENGTH: Long : 115 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Timbale of fresh crabmeat and spinach mousse asby CNBprepared by the Inn at Little Washington. Recipe on Page 3. color.
2. Reinhardt Lynch (left) and Patrick O'Connell are the proprietors
of the Inn at Little Washington.