There are stalwarts with dishes that grow dated over the years, attracting diners as preserved in amber as the menu. Magnolias at the Mill, which opened in 2004, is not one of those restaurants. Thank chef Ian Dieter for that.
Dieter joined the restaurant, which is part of the same management group as Leesburg’s Tuscarora Mill and South Street Under, as well as the local Fire Works Pizza chain, in 2017. His goal? To serve ultra-local cuisine, much of it not just from Loudoun County, but from Purcellville itself. The bill of fare changes at least three times a year, often with additional adjustments in winter for four menus every 12 months.
The chef’s locavore ethos owes to his fine-dining roots. “I got a lot of my training from François,” he says, casually referring to François Haeringer, the Alsatian founder of Great Falls’ L’Auberge Chez François. Other stops on the road to Magnolias included Salamander Resort and a stint as executive chef at the Goodstone Inn, both in Middleburg.
That pedigree means prime connections with farmers, as well as dishes that belie the casual atmosphere at the restored mill. A summer dish included a rosy roasted duck breast served over raspberry risotto with garlicky patty pan squash, equally compelling dipped in either duck jus or huckleberry gastrique.
But don’t put it past Dieter to create exciting versions of pub grub, too. Fried green tomatoes are served in a crisp corn flake jacket, then piled with mounds of pistachio butter, local farmers cheese, and crispy pork belly. Tomato jam and Sriracha aioli lend competing drips of sweet and spicy to the crunchy rounds.
The menu’s collection of burgers is notable, too, with options such as a smash burger made with Ovoka Farms wagyu, white cheddar, and porcini-rubbed pork belly; and a bison burger with mole-rubbed bacon, black-truffle cheese, and huckleberry honey, both on shiny housemade rolls.
It takes a chef of great imagination to keep a 20-year-old restaurant feeling fresh, season after season. Dieter does it with aplomb. Magnolias at the Mill, 198 N. 21st St., Purcellville
Feature image by Amie Otto
This story originally ran in our September issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
