Luke and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on November 18th. With the help of Grandy and Poppa Len, we left the kids in their care and drove to everyone's typical 10th anniversary destination: Sperryville, Virginia!
Despite its humble name, it's a lovely area near the Shenandoah Valley known for its delicious local food culture. Since we only had 48 hours we didn't want to go to far and I found a bed and breakfast that I fell in love with, so we were off!
We had a restful stay at the beautiful and quiet Belle Mead Bed and Breakfast. It is located on a 138 acre holistic farm and the Executive Directors also run an experiential learning school and various children's camps.
They had lots of lovely farm animals and beautiful views.
The highlight of our weekend was Luke surprising me with Saturday night dinner at the Inn at Little Washington. This is a foodie's paradise and it had been on my "Restaurants to Eat At" list since we moved here 7 1/2 years ago.
Among its many accolades, it is the only 5 star restaurant in the DC metro area and has been home to celebrity, self-taught chef Patrick O'Connell for almost 35 years. We got to meet "the Pope of American Cuisine" and visit "the most beautiful kitchen in the world."
The customer service was unreal. We got to take home our personal menus that had "Happy 10th Anniversary to Luke and Melanie" printed at the top. Our servers were very attentive and the environment was calm and relaxed.
And the food. Oh, THE FOOD! It turned out to be a 6 course meal and they brought special homemade gluten-free bread for me that was delicious! (I regret not taking pictures, but we were new to this environment and didn't want to embarrass ourselves in front of the upper class folk.)
We started with a shot of their roasted red bell pepper soup with Sambuca (and Italian anise-flavored liqueur - which I had to google to find out). I kid you not, after Luke and I took our first sip, we looked at each other and wondered aloud how soup - SOUP - could taste so much better than any other soup we've ever tasted. It was like drinking savory velvet. Crazy good.
Then we got 4 different little balls of goodness (not the culinary term they used) served on white spoons that included an airy beet sorbet, a breaded and fried ball of risotto, the world's smallest baked potato, and some cheese something-or-other. Interesting and delicious.
Then we chose two different options off the menu's courses.
First Course
Carpaccio of Herb Crusted Baby Lamb with Caesar Salad Ice Cream (yes, you read that right)
Chilled Maine Lobster in Sherry Vinaigrette with Avocado, Grapefruit and Lotus Root
Second Course
Spinach and Cheese Filled Ravioli with White Truffles and Molten-Gold Center (an egg yolk)
Seared Sea Scallops with Carmelized Endive, Leek Puree and Shaved Black Truffle
Main Course
Beef Two Ways: A Pecan Crusted Barbequed Short Rib Paired with a Miniature Filet Mignon Wrapped in Swiss Chard
A Duet of Duck: Seared Breast and Braised Leg with Turnip Puree and Plum Sauce
Dessert
Southern Butter Pecan Ice Cream Sandwich with Hot Caramel Sauce
A Chocolate Menage a Trois: A Miniature Black Forest Mousse Bombe, Chocolate Creme Brulee' and Bitter Sweet Chocolate Souffle
They served our desserts with "Happy Anniversary" written in chocolate on a marzipan banner. Nice touch.
To spare you all the "oohs" and "ahs" of our 2 hour gastronomic tour, I will summarize our experience in Luke's words: "Five star food, five star service, five star company." He is correct on all three accounts. We highly recommend saving your pennies (and paychecks) for this once in a lifetime experience.
The next morning we drove an hour to Charlottesville to spend the day there. We visited the Downtown Mall (pictured above), Monticello (too short on time and money to see Thomas Jefferson's actual house, so no pictures),
our friends Noel and Nefret and their new baby, Simon,
and the University of Virginia campus. This is the rotunda that TJ built. Smart, that guy. (Am I the only one that was reminded of the clock tower in Back to the Future?)
And below is the view across the Academical Village.
Pretty little chapel:
Pretty yellow tree:
Pretty cute couple:
Happy Anniversary!
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