Last night I had the pleasure of having dinner at The Inn at Little Washington, a foodie haven about 70 miles from Washington, DC. If you’re not familiar with The Inn, check Wikipedia for a listing of the many, many awards it has received.

It’s a pretty spectacular place; I guarantee it’s the most decadent meal you’ll ever have. It was actually my second time there – the first time was to celebrate the anniversary of my in-laws, and last night was a celebration for me and my sister-in-law. Of course I brought my camera and tried to snap away at everything we ordered. We had dinner at one of the two tables in “the kitchen,”

“The Inn’s new kitchen, often referred to as “the most beautiful kitchen in the world” was added in 1998. Inspired by the dairy room at Windsor Castle, the kitchen features an enormous Vulcan range. Built to order in France, it is topped with a copper and brass hood that looks like King Arthur’s tent. Two kitchen tables — we call them the inner sanctum — allow guests to watch the action ringside.”

For starters they brought us a sampling of canapés.

I believe this one was cheese.

I grabbed this one, filled with risotto.

Shrimp canape

Herbed popcorn topped with shaved truffles. Morgan informed me that this is how he would like his popcorn from now on.

They brought this between the canape and our first course. They referred to it as “sorrel,” and it did, in fact, taste a lot like grass!

A Quartet of Island Creek Oyster Slurpees.
This was by far my favorite thing all night. I’d never had anything like it, and it was amazing. The oysters were each filled with a dollop of either cold grapefruit, passionfruit, cucumber puree or wasabi slurpee. Amazing.

Beet Fantasia: Three Varieties of Roasted Beets, Beet Mousse and Citrus Salsa.

A Marriage of Hot and Cold Foie Gras with Ice Wine Jelly and House Made Quince Preserves.

Spinach and Cheese Filled Molten-Gold Ravioli with Shaved Summer Truffle.
I wanted to love this, but there was a lot of runny egg inside that overpowered it a little more me.

Fricassee of Maine Lobster with Potato Gnocchi, Green Grapes and Curried Walnuts.

Pan Seared New England Diver’s Scallop with Black Olive Tapenade and Gazpacho Salsa.

Medallions of Rabbit Loin Wrapped in House Cured Pancetta Surrounding a Lilliputian Rabbit Rib Roast Resting on a Pillow of Pea Puree.
I peered through the giant water chalices to take this photo. The rabbit was amazing.

Pan Roasted Maine Lobster with Braised Baby Bok Choy, Grapefruit and Citrus Butter Sauce.
This was my main course selection – very excellent but at this point I was very stuffed!

Pepper Crusted Tuna Pretending to be a Filet Mignon, Capped with Seared Duck Foie Gras on Charred Onions with a Burgundy Butter Sauce.

Elysian Fields Baby Lamb Loin with Parsley Risotto, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Garlic Custard and Minted Bearnaise Sauce.

Crispy Sweetbreads with Grilled Local Peaches, Chanterelle Mushrooms and Virginia Country Ham.

After dinner and before dessert – some kind of delicious blackberry drink with tapioca.

A Painter’s Palette of Seasonal Sorbets.
I didn’t get to try as much of this as I would have liked. My husband ordered it, and he said he would almost eat the glass it was sitting in to get every last drop.

Seven Deadly Sins, A Sampling of Seven of Our Most Decadent Desserts.
What I picked – of course!

A Trio of Summer Cobblers: Local Blueberry, Peach and Cherry with Buttermilk Ice Cream.

For a Selection of Today’s Cheeses, Just Ask for Faira the Cow.
We did.. and they brought it!

A favor box of assorted cookies and chocolates to end the night, in the shape of The Inn.

As you can see, I will not be eating for the rest of the week!

Tags: food photography

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