THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 1, 1996 TAG: 9608290053
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: MILES TO GO BEFORE I EAT
To our readers: This is another in an occasional series on regional
restaurants, plain and fancy, that serve up food in such a special way
that people will drive miles just to eat there. Maybe you know of such
a place. Call us at 446-2949; we'd like to check it out.
SOURCE: BY STEPHEN HARRIMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ABINGDON, VA. LENGTH: 212 lines
WHAT A STRANGE THING to say, I thought. What this man was telling me was that this place where I had a splendid meal in a most elegant setting was, well, just not what it should be.
Not yet.
Then I realized that this man was not telling me that there was anything particularly wrong with the dining experience we had enjoyed at the Martha Washington Inn. He was saying that it is just going to get better.
I suspect it will happen. He is the boss.
``I want to take this dining room much higher, way beyond the comprehension of this area,'' said Ron Lamers, the thirty-something general manager of this classy little hotel, affectionately known to locals and guests as ``the Martha,'' in Southwest Virginia. It was taken over last year by the Atlanta-based Camberley group of hotels.
This grand old lady remains one of the principal attractions in the lovely little town of Abingdon (see travel report in the Sunday Break, section E). You should also know that it is - I have this on reliable authority - host to a variety of spectral activity, although I didn't personally see or hear any ghosts. In fact, it may well be one of Virginia's most haunted edifices. More on that later.
The inn currently has a Four-Star rating from Mobil. Only about two percent of the hotels and dining rooms in the country achieve that level of excellence. It is not currently rated by AAA.
``I want to be able to walk up to a table and see people absolutely blown away by the food, by the presentation,'' Lamers said. ``This dining room should be full until 11 o'clock at night.''
You don't ``fix'' something that's not broken unless you're either particularly stupid or especially bright. There's every reason to think Lamers is the latter.
The personable native of the Netherlands, who is comfortably conversant in English and German as well as Dutch, is a professional product of Hilton International hotels in the Middle East and the Ritz Carlton group in this country.
He came to the Martha this spring from a similar position at the AAA Five-Diamond Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, where he also achieved Five Diamonds for the hotel's restaurant.
That is his goal for the Martha.
His plan? ``We are going to make drastic changes,'' Lamers said.
He would be bringing in a new executive chef, Troy Thompson from the highly acclaimed Millenium Restaurant in Georgetown, and sous chef, Joseph Danarello, in a package deal.
Thompson, Lamers said, ``is a fascinating individual who has trained with some of the best chefs in the world in Philadelphia and Tokyo.'' They first worked together about five years ago at the Ritz Carlton in Philadelphia.
The new chefs are to begin this weekend.
Lamers envisions a menu with about a dozen entrees, one that changes with the seasons, and one that will include a ``chef's tasting menu'' of five courses.
I'm not sure if there's any point in mentioning the menu from which we chose, since it's going to change, but I will to give you some idea at what level the improvements will start.
The selections of appetizers included escargot, salmon, crabcakes, shrimp, quail and a vegetarian offering. For a place nearly 400 miles from crab country, the lump-meat crabcakes were delicious, and the snails with shiitake mushrooms were superb. So was the small tureen of cream of wild rice soup and the salad of baby spinach with a warm bacon dressing, presented with shredded marigold petals.
In addition to the entree offerings of rainbow trout, crabcakes (again), chicken with Virginia ham, beef tenderloin, New York strip steak and loin of lamb, the chef's specials were pork tenderloin and grilled swordfish. Our attentive and knowledgable waiter, Dwayne, asked our temperature preference for our selections - lamb and pork - and they arrived precisely that way.
Dwayne could make a fine career for himself in this field, but he is a business major at the local community college and he might well end up managing a place like this some day.
His recommendation for dessert, Martha's marbled strawberry shortcake, was right on the money, and the chocolate mousse in a chocolate cup would delight any choco-holic.
Improve on that? I can hardly wait to see.
The dining room itself will remain largely untouched.
The setting is properly Victorian. The hotel began as a private residence of one of western Virginia's most prominent families in 1832 - a little before Victoria's long reign, actually.
The rectangular dining room has a pressed tin ceiling from which hang nine 12-globe chandeliers that replicate gaslights. Dark wood columns rise in two rows down the center from floor to ceiling. There is an ornate dark wood bar at one end, and in front of it a remarkable glass topped serving table that is 90 percent silver (sterling silver is 92.5 percent pure). Oddly, no one seems to know where it came from. It was found, not long ago, dust covered in a storage area.
The walls are covered with large gilt-framed oil paintings. There is soft classical music in the air.
Fine English china and engraved silver flatware sit just so on starchy white tablecloths with tiny candle lamps and flower vases.
The Martha is truly a place worth driving MANY miles - about 375 miles from South Hampton Roads - before you eat. And just as delightful a place to stay.
About a decade ago, the Martha underwent a $10 million renovation - a startling figure considering her nine acres of grounds and her 61 rooms and suites were appraised at only $2.82 million. But what a renovation.
The history of the inn is reflected in the antique furnishings, which are part of its charm. Crystal chandeliers, antique beds, oriental carpets and a teacup and saucer once owned by Martha Washington are just some of the more than 500 furnishings and objects d'art which qualify as priceless. Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian-period furniture complement the rooms.
The heart of the inn, now a four-building complex, was the home of General Francis Preston, built between 1820-32 at the then rather extravagant cost of nearly $15,000.
The Federal style red brick mansion was built symmetrically on both sides of a wide hall, with a hipped roof covering two full stories over a full raised basement. Each floor contains six large rooms and a hallway. Large triple-sash windows starting at floor level grace the first floor parlors, which are elegantly decorated and have 18-foot ceilings.
The mansion was really no more than the representation of Preston's station in life.
Francis Preston was the grandson of Scots-Irish immigrant John Preston, who, with John Buchanan and James Patton, had formed the Wood River Company and patented 100,000 acres of land in the New River valley in 1745.
Francis was a cum laude graduate of William and Mary, lawyer and former member of the U.S. Congress; as a lieutenant colonel of the 5th Virginia Militia, he had been stationed in Norfolk, but found time to serve in the Virginia Assembly. Later he was appointed a brigadier general in the state militia.
Francis married Sarah Buchanan Campbell, whose father was Gen. William Campbell, hero of the Revolutionary War Battle of Kings Mountain, and whose step-father was Gen. William Russell. Her mother, Elizabeth, was a sister of Patrick Henry.
Many important travelers were entertained at the mansion, including President Andrew Jackson, and this atmosphere no doubt accounted for the ``suitable'' marriages of the Preston children.
Francis Preston died in 1835. Mrs. Preston - she had been just shy of 15 years old when she married 28-year-old Francis - died in 1858. After her death, the mansion became Martha Washington College on the eve of the Civil War.
When war came, its grounds were used as a training field for the Washington Mounted Rifles, commanded by Capt. (later brigadier general) William E. ``Grumble'' Jones. The company's roster included John Mosby, who would later become known as the ``Gray Ghost'' as he led his partisan raiders against the Yankees in Northern Virginia.
The ghosts and other spectres that frequent the Martha today are mostly from that period. There is the blood stain that would not go away (not, at least, until the flooring was replaced), a riderless horse, and, most poignant of all, the spirit of Beth, a ``Martha girl'' as the students were known.
Tradition has it that a Yankee officer, Capt. John Stoves, was captured near the inn and carried, badly wounded, to the third floor. There he was tenderly cared for by a girl known only as Beth.
Late one evening the captain called out, ``Play something, Beth, I'm going.'' Beth played a sweet melody on her violin. Then she stopped and told the attending physician, ``He has been pardoned, sir, by an officer higher than General Lee. Captain Stoves is dead.''
A short time later, Beth died. Some say she died from typhoid fever. Others insist it was a broken heart. The two were buried in Abingdon's Green Springs Cemetery. There are those who insist than on nights of the full moon, Beth's haunting violin melodies may be heard on the third floor. Others, including a security guard and several maids, insist they have seen her.
There wasn't a full moon when I was there. I did sleep beneath Beth's room, and I did hear some loud thumping from above. But it was only a couple of ill-behaved children jumping in and out of bed.
The mansion continued as a college for the next 70 years, until the Great Depression and declining enrollment forced its closure in 1932. In its second reincarnation, the Martha became a hotel in 1935.
Its guest list includes presidents Harry Truman and Jimmy Carter and first ladies Eleanor Roosevelt and Lady Bird Johnson.
The second Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, Edith Bowling Galt, who was ``regent'' or ``presidentress'' during her husband's extended illness following two strokes, also was in residence here. She was a Martha girl, class of 1887. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
MARTHA WASHINGTON INN
The Victorian setting of the dining room at ``the Martha'' is as
elegant as the food.
Photo
STEPHEN HARRIMAN\The Virginian-Pilot
The Martha Washington Inn's main building was originally a mansion,
built over 160 years ago.
Graphic
THE MARTHA AT A GLANCE
The Martha Washington Inn (known locally as ``the Martha'') is a
member of the Camberley Hotel family, headquartered in Atlanta,
which includes the Camberley Brown in Louisville, Ky.; the Camberley
Plaza in Tampa, Fla.; the Gunter in San Antonio; and the Camberley
Club Hotel in Toronto. The Martha also is affiliated with the
National Trust for Historic Preservation's "Historic Hotels of
America" program.
Address: 150 W. Main St., Abingdon, Va. 24210.
Facilities: The Dining Rooms seats 90. The hotel has 61 guest
rooms and suites. The inn also has banquet, ballroom and conference
room facilities.
Dress: Semi-formal or casually elegant. Ties aren't required for
men, but this is the sort of place where one really should be worn.
Costs: A la carte dinner, with appetizer, soup, salad, entree and
dessert, will run about $50 per person. Choices from an extensive
wine list are extra. Overnight accommodations range from $110-150
for rooms, $175-325 for suites. Continental breakfast is included;
full breakfast is $5 for guests, which seems a bit odd at these
prices. Reduced group rates are available for 10 rooms or more. All
major credit cards are accepted.
Info: (703) 628-3161. Reservations: (800) 555-8000. by CNB