Artful, Amazing Food

The birthday fun continued with a trip to Southwest Virginia. I am such a food geek that I'm always thrilled on Wednesdays to see the newest articles in the New York Times "Dining and Wine" section. A few weeks ago I saw this piece about a (soon-to-be) husband/wife culinary team that moved to essentially the middle of nowhere--Chilhowie,Virginia--in order to be able to work together and have more creative freedom in the kitchen.

I e-mailed the article to Troy on a whim and he immediately made us a reservation for the day after my birthday. I booked us a nice room at a restored, 1920's hotel in Marion.

It was a 3 1/2 hour drive to get to dinner, but Troy and I both agree, we had the most incredible dining experience of our lives at the Town House.

One thing that I especially enjoyed was the unpretentious nature of the staff, from our server (daughter-in-law of the owner and U.Va. alum) to the sommelier. We dressed up a bit but there were people wearing jeans too. We felt comfortable asking questions about the food (there were a number of things on the menu that we were unfamiliar with) and how it was prepared. I was encouraged to take pictures of the food (although it was tough with such a low-light situation).

We ordered off the four course menu, although there is also an a la carte menu and a nine course meal. In addition to the dishes we expected, we had surprise treats in between like savory cookies made with olives, a lemony jam and freshly shaved Parmesan and then what Troy deemed "the best bread I've ever eaten in my life!" a ciabatta with freshly cracked pepper and another ingredient that slips my mind. We were there for a total of 3 1/2 hours!

Savory cookies for starters.

"Pickled loup de mer & various seeds of summer" (mackerel, along with seeds from a tomato, raspberries, yellow squash, and more served with quinoa and a lovely vanilla sauce).

"Marinated oysters & spring peas" (served with passion fruit, dashi, radish, sorrel, and pineapple).

Happy eaters!

This was definitely one of my favorites, "Caramelized eggplant & cantaloupe" (with grilled mango, ginger pudding, peanut powder, tamarind “raisins,” and crispy puffs of basmati rice).

By the time we got to the final course, the lighting was terrible and the pictures didn't turn out very well. I had the lamb and Troy had the rabbit and we were both thrilled with our choices.

Dessert for me was very decadent. They brought out a little candle in honor of my birthday too.


"Cold smoked chocolate" (with carrot puree, Indian curry, coriander, coconut, and fenugreek).

Each course was obviously lovingly prepared and almost ridiculously complex in terms of flavors. In some dishes, you could taste a completely distinct flavor on each area of your plate but somehow they all melded together seamlessly. It was an incredible experience and I highly recommend it.

We look a bit dazed in this picture that our server took. By the time we finished, we were really just blissed out and happily exhausted! Thanks Troy for treating me!! It was absolutely fabulous.