Photo by Jonathan Timmes
Theatrics begin en route to The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm, with the crackly sound of tires on a steep, gravel driveway, giving way to views far into the mountains, with layers of lush greenery and a postcard-perfect bridge to cap off the scene.
Food is served on custom ceramic and foraged materials, or as a friend captured the sentiment: “I wish people fed me food on rocks all the time.” This particular round late into the meal, of which there are eight courses ($110), is a still-smoking piece of beef the server transfers with tongs from a stone to a plate with potatoes and elderberries that eats like a steak but cuts like a brisket (which it is). In fact, the meat is almost like a slice of lasagna with a crusty top and layers of silky fat melting into the tender flesh underneath.
This sort of show is standard at chef Tarver King’s playground in the woods. This year, it’s King’s broad reach that stands out: his foray to the Pacific with a deep, mushroom dashi broth featuring a lone noodle—it’s really a sous vide egg yolk stretched and pulled—served alongside seaweed oil-slicked bao. Those Chinese-style steamed buns are the night’s bread course.
Housemade seeded crackers, spreadable cashew cheese and an onslaught of little bites showing off the kitchen’s range and influences start the night, from a Native American burnt bread sauce underneath a smoked oyster to a mushroom handpie to house-cured ham with housemade mustard and can’t the kitchen catch a break and just buy Grey Poupon? It’s extravagant but approachable, and whimsical, too, as an intermezzo titled “tomato, tomàto” reveals itself as marscapone and white chocolate painted to resemble the red orb, served with tomato leaves for that literal fresh-from-the-garden scent.
Dining here is to not only be fed, but to be entertained.
The Restaurant at Patowmack Farm
Modern American | $$$$ (pre fixe only)
42461 Lovettsville Road, Lovettsville
