42461 Lovettsville Road, Lovettsville, Virginia 20180; +1 540 822-9017
https://www.patowmackfarm.com/
By J.P.
In a recent article, the Washington Post addressed eight dining destinations in Maryland and Virginia that would be worth a road trip from the Washington DC area. Among those, we had already been to three of them: The Inn at Little Washington, L'Auberge Provençale, and The Inn at Perry Cabin. Among the other five restaurants in the list, we focused on The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm, and were able to make a reservation for a Thursday in late August at 5:30 pm.
Patowmack Farm, owned by farmer and restaurateur Beverly Morton Billand, was established in 1986. The restaurant opened in 2004 and, since late 2020, the kitchen is led by Chef Vincent Badiee. Chef Badiee attended ALMA, La Scuola Internazionale di Cucina Italiana, in Colorno, Italy, and has worked at several renowned US restaurants. Those included Eleven Madison Park, in New York City, and Zaytinya, Fiola, and Gravitas, in Washington DC.
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| Dining room |
Patowmack Farm is located in Loudoun County, Virginia, close to the Potomac River, which in that area sets the border between Virginia and Maryland. Coming from Maryland, you cross the Potomac River through the Point of Rocks Bridge, and the restaurant is about 1 mile from the end of the bridge. As you go up a bit to reach the restaurant, you have from there a beautiful view of the Point of Rocks Bridge and the valley. As described in its website, The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm comprises three seating areas: “glass conservatory, gazebo, and open-air tent.” We were seated at one of the tables in the open-air tent. At some point during our visit, only one indoor table was occupied. The gazebo was eventually occupied, and several of the outdoor tables in the tent were also occupied.
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| Gazebo |
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| Outdoor seating |
The only option for dinner is a fixed-price menu, at $125 per person. Two wine pairing options, at $50 and $90 per person, are also available. However, we chose to order wine separately. The set menu starts with 3 items that may be considered appetizers. These are followed by 3 main courses (fish soup; pasta; meat). We then got two desserts. The menu closes with what may considered a 9th item, which is named "A Fond Farewell" and consists of a couple of items to be taken home.
The appetizers were:
- Seeds + Crackers (escalivada). Escalivada is a traditional dish from Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia, and Aragón of smoky grilled vegetables. It typically consists of roasted eggplant and bell peppers with olive oil and sometimes onion, tomato, and minced garlic. In this case, as indicated by the waiter, it included squash. This first course was quite good.
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| Seeds + crackers |
- Farm Egg (chawanmushi, smoked trout roe). Chawanmushi is a Japanese steamed egg custard that consists of ginkgo nuts, shiitake mushrooms, kamaboko (Japanese fish cake), and an egg mixture flavored with dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. The chawanmushi covered the internal surface of an eggshell, which also contained the trout roe. Tasty and interesting presentation.
- Summer Salad (squash, cucumber, Georges Mill feta, sumac). Sumacs are shrubs and small trees. The dried fruits of some sumac species are ground to produce a tangy, crimson spice popular in many countries. Georges Mill Farm, also located in Lovettsville, Virginia, was established around 1750, and descendants of the early settlers continue to run the farm. The cheesemaking operation started in 2013.
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| Farm egg |
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| Summer salad |
These three initial courses were followed by:
- Cacciucco (focaccia, VA clams, VA wahoo). Cacciucco is an Italian fish stew. This course was presented as a broth that came separate from the focaccia and fish. However, the Chef recommendation, as conveyed by the waiter, was to throw all the other components into the broth. The waiter described wahoo as swordfish. However, it seems that it is merely a swordfish bycatch, i.e., incidental capture of non-target species. The fish stew was overall very good.
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| Cacciucco |
- Sweet Corn Ravioli (pine cream, cabbage, Korean chili)
- Long Stone Berkshire Pork (Whippoorwill potato espuma, radish, garlic chives). Long Stone Farm is also located in Lovettsville. Berkshire is a British breed of pig. Whippoorwill Farm is located just outside Washington, Virginia.
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| Sweet corn ravioli |
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| Berkshire pork |
The menu included three more items:
- Melon Variations (honeydew sorbet, cantaloupe, watermelon)
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| Melon variations |
- Blackberry Forest Cake (Belgian chocolate mousse, Chantilly cream, cocoa nibs)
- A Fond Farewell (zucchini bread, Patowmack granola)
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| Blackberry Forest cake |
The two desserts were good, with higher marks for the melon variations. The items to be brought home were excellent, great zucchini bread and granola. At home, I was able to enjoy granola with my yogurt for a couple of days.
The wine list at The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm is not very extensive. We ended up choosing a wine that we have had several times before: Chablis, Vieilles Vignes de Sainte Claire, Jean-Marc Brocard, 2019 ($60). It was very good. Wines from AOC (Appellation d’Origine Controlée) Chablis are 100% Chardonnay, and come from the Yonne region, in the northern portion of Bourgogne. Chablis wines can be classified as AOC Chablis Grand Cru, AOC Chablis (some of which may be designated as Premier Cru), and AOC Petit Chablis. The Chablis we had is not included in the upper scale categories Chablis Premier Cru or Chablis Grand Cru. Jean-Marc Brocard has been producing Chablis wines since 1973. In the mid 90’s his son Julien Brocard joined him and has since then placed more emphasis on organic and biodynamic farming.
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| Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis |
Our experience at The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm was overall very good. It offers a very pleasant atmosphere and efficient service. The menu items were generally good, but none raised to the level of being outstanding.
Dinner for two, including tax, tips, and $60 of wine, added up to $393.
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