The road to finding Washington’s place on the culinary map has often traveled well beyond the boundaries of the Beltway.
For decades, the biggest bucket list meal within hours of the D.C. area has required a drive about 70 miles West to the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The precious Inn at Little Washington beckons special occasion diners with its romantic setting, whimsical and intimate dining rooms, and effortless and elevated service. That and the refined regional American cooking of chef and proprietor Patrick O’Connell. And over the last several years, The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm has emerged as a regular presence on local best-of lists. Just off the banks of the Potomac River in northern Loudon County, the fine-dining restaurant fashioned out of a greenhouse is as “noma” as it gets without flying to Copenhagen.
Among the riding stables, dressage trainers, and polo academies of Middleburg, Harrimans is a relative newcomer looking to court District diners and earn a spot in the “worth traveling into semi-rural Virginia for a meal” discussion. The dining room sits within the grounds of the luxury Salamander Resort & Spa, installed by Black Entertainment Television co-founder Sheila Johnson on 340 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountain foothills in 2013. Guests drawn to the spa and wellness center, or horse related activity offerings, can fly in to Dulles Airport for restorative and expensive weekends. Conventions and conferences make up a large part of the room bookings, and there are the neighbors that come in for a meal from Virginia and, yes, D.C.
But can you really consider Harrimans as part of the Washington dining scene? Well, for starters they participate in D.C. Restaurant Week despite not exactly being part of Metropolitan Washington. They’ve been trying to get the attention of Washington food media and recently hosted DCist for a media dinner in its cooking studio; a room set up as if it were ready for a television shoot, with line chefs working at a front window and adjacent screens projecting their sautéing and knife work to the audience. We returned later in the year for a meal in the octagon-shaped Harrimans dining room, which featured wood beams adding an elegant barn-like feel.
The artistry that Chef de Cuisine Chris Edwards picked up from a stint training at El Bulli in Spain is evident in a vibrantly plated mozzarella caprese, with aged balsamic vinegar poured to the side of the soft cheese. A side of hay-smoked gnocchi is borrowed from time spent cooking with Fabio Trabocchi in Tysons Corner and New York. Now he works closely with Todd Gray who, when not running his own restaurant Equinox, serves as the culinary director for all of Salamander’s properties. Those include a gourmet market on the town’s main street that advertises catering for polo tailgates, three hotels in Florida, and the two restaurants and banquet services at the Middleburg flagship.
Much like it was the case when he worked at Patowmack Farm, much of the herbs, peppers, and lettuces are plucked from the chef garden. But foraging from the woods intersected by the horse trails and the resort’s zip line feature is not part of the equation. That change is something Edwards welcomes.
“I was so strict on myself over there because we were strictly organic and we always wanted to do as much as we could straight from there,” he said. “It was kind of a liberating feeling to know that, you know what, some people want to have some asparagus with their steak right now.”
Those steaks have served as a menu centerpiece, with meats sourced locally, save for a unique touch, serving a collar steak cut from Spain’s famed black acorn eating ibérico pigs. The preparation eats like a New York strip though leaner and pinker. After a recent menu redesign, the grill portion of the menu has been slightly deemphasized. A few standout cuts of steak are now mixed in with the rest of the menu. Instead of a la carte sides, meat is composed with selected gourmet accouterments that go far beyond the creamed spinach or simple asparagus variety.
An updated spin on duck à l’orange earned its way from a stint as an autumn special to a spot on the new menu. The roast breast has a crispy skin with a medium-rare, soft center sauced with an orange puree and served with juniper spiced pesto, a paste of orange and strawberry marmalades mixed with juniper, coriander, fennel, star anise, cloves, Worcestershire sauce, and balsamic vinegar.
“Some of the feedback that we got when we first opened was that the food wasn’t exciting or bold enough,” Edwards said. “There weren’t these flavors that make people go wow. That spice and that funk and [saltiness]. I wanted to get some explosive flavors onto the table. Stuff to make people say wow.”
And there’s a peppery burn from that feedback that certainly explodes in certain dishes. It’s an appreciated palate awakener for a fan of spicy food. If it were an actual Asian menu, you would expect to see two or three dangling chili icons printed next to its name on the menu.
“Ms. Johnson likes things very spicy,” Edwards explained when questioned on the inclusion of the tongue burner. Talk to enough staff across the resort and you’ll hear nods to the reverence of the the CEO and the touches she adds to the kitchen and property. She’ll walk into the kitchen during dinner service with bags of zucchini and tomatoes from Salamander Farm, her personal estate nearby.
Still not all risks take root. A homemade kitfo—Ethiopia’s signature raw, minced beef dish—used to be on the lounge menu. It’s not the first thing you would expect to find at a hotel wine bar built around a mahogany billiards table, croquet mallets adorning the walls. But Edwards’ wife is originally from the African country, so while he minced and spiced the beef, she would pick up fresh injera at an ethnic grocery store to serve at the restaurant. Between the difficulties in keeping the bread fresh enough and a crowd largely of spa and equestrian retreaters, convention goers, and local diners embracing Ethiopian raw beef, the dish had to be scrapped. Edwards is a chef willing to take risks, but there’s a line to be walked.
Where does Harrimans fit on the beyond the beltway culinary map? While food is quite good, the restaurant can’t match the intimacy and magnified aura of The Inn at Little Washington. But it doesn’t aim to. It’s more akin to a Homestead or Greenbrier resort than a quaint little Inn. But it’s a great deal more up to date in the food department. And a whole lot closer, too.
