Like every great artist, Patrick O’Connell took a blank canvas and created a masterpiece.
The story of how the sole proprietor and chef at The Inn at Little Washington rose to international acclaim typifies the American dream. And 45 years after creating a magical oasis in tiny Washington, Virginia, O’Connell continues to fine-tune, motivated by the Heraclitus saying, “Change is the only constant in life.”
“The Inn has been slowly and patiently evolving over the last four decades,” the DC native says. “Evolving is as simple as making everything a tiny bit better every day. As long as I can see forward motion, I’m happy.”
The self-taught chef and three-time author, to whom the James Beard Foundation presented a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019, has a lot to be happy about. The 2022 Michelin Guide awarded his esteemed restaurant its highest accolade of three stars for the fourth year in a row, deeming it “exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey!” The lavish 23-bedroom Inn also earned five stars from the 2023 Forbes Travel Guide for the 34th year in a row, AAA’s Five Diamond Award for 31 years straight, and a Wine Spectator Grand Award for its 14,000-bottle wine cellar. O’Connell himself has received numerous honorary doctorate degrees, a National Humanities Medal from the White House, and the list goes on.
“Every recognition fuels our passion, inspires us further, and raises our guests’ expectations,” O’Connell says. “To finally be recognized by the Michelin Guide as one of 13 three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the United States is a great source of pride for our entire team.”
‘An Eye for Perfection’
The fabled Inn in the sleepy hamlet of “little” Washington (population: 85), 60 miles west of “big” Washington, draws well-heeled guests for its sumptuous dining and luxurious hospitality. The village, with its spotty cellphone coverage and don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it size, is an unlikely backdrop for the world-renowned triumph O’Connell created.
Back in the 1970s, after attending Catholic University of America in DC (and dropping out to pursue cooking), O’Connell and his then-partner in both life and business, Reinhardt Lynch, embarked on a new venture in Rappahannock County. In 1978, they paid $200 a month to rent half of a dilapidated former auto repair shop in the town of Washington in the Blue Ridge Mountains, converting part of the space into a dining room.
From those humble beginnings, a hospitality empire was born, one that was quickly recognized for its world-class cuisine, exceptional service, and a distinct farm-to-table approach. In 2007, Lynch and O’Connell parted ways, and O’Connell became the sole owner.
Those who know the laser-focused chef believe his attention to detail makes all the difference.
“He has an eye for perfection,” says Eric Ripert, chef at New York’s three-Michelin-star restaurant Le Bernardin and O’Connell’s friend since the mid-1990s. He recalls a time when they toured the Inn’s guest rooms and O’Connell found one of the curtains out of place.
“He couldn’t help it; he had to stop everything and fix it, and I told him — I said, ‘There’s no difference.’ And he said, ‘No, look. Look and see the difference.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my God — he’s right.’ It was a 10th of an inch of a difference. We started to laugh together, but he’s like that in every aspect of what he does.”
Along those lines, the Inn’s entire staff is encouraged to make sure every detail of a guest’s stay is flawless, down to how the hypoallergenic goose-blend pillows on each bed are displayed.
“He’d come up to the front desk and say, ‘Did you fluff the pillows?’” says Whitney Heeter, a former front desk agent who worked at the Inn for more than three years. “Every pillow receives the same dedication and attention as everything else. If you really look at the experience he’s trying to curate for people, every moment matters.”
Former sommelier Michael Cain Seay, now general manager of the restaurant Fleurie in Charlottesville, notes the intentionality O’Connell uses in the dining room to create a memorable overall experience. The opulent décor, interactions with well-trained servers, and gracious timing of meal presentation is scrupulously planned.
“It was the temperature, it was the music, it was the wallpaper,” Seay says. “All of these things made the food taste better — and I believe it.” Seay has since worked with other Inn alumni at Virginia restaurants, and they continue to hold O’Connell up as the gold standard.
“Oftentimes, we would sit around and say, ‘What would Chef O’Connell do?’” Seay says. “It was always a beneficial way to start our thinking.”
Setting the Scene
In college, O’Connell studied acting, but he left the stage for gastronomic pursuits. His flair for the dramatic prevailed, and friends and former employees agree the theatrical elements of O’Connell’s dining room make for an entertaining experience.
In 2020, the hotel made headlines for its amusing solution to pandemic social distancing. Complying with the 50 percent maximum occupany requirements for restaurants, O’Connell placed mannequins dressed in spiffy 1940s attire throughout the dining room — an ingenious way to make the restaurant feel full.
“It’s a very elegant place to eat. You get great food,” says Jacques Pépin, a heralded chef and author and O’Connell’s friend for over 30 years. “But on the other hand, it’s not snobbish, it’s not cold; it is very warm and a great place to go over and over again.”
At the Inn, luxury doesn’t have to be stuffy, O’Connell shows. Case in point: In the dining room, maître du fromage Cameron Smith (affectionately known as “Cheese Whiz”) presents an array of decadent cheeses tableside. The assortment is perched atop a large rolling plaster cow named Faira. The charming — and mooing — cow’s cheese service is an “udderly” amazing experience, the Inn boasts on its website.
Lifelong Devotion
Many would have moved on to new endeavors after achieving such staggering success, but not O’Connell.
“Stamina will be Patrick’s legacy,” says Curtis Stone, chef of the Michelin-star restaurant Maude in Beverly Hills, California. “Devoting every energy to The Inn at Little Washington and maintaining the degree of excellence to earn the accolades he sustained for so long is incomparable. The admiration I have for Patrick to stay close to his roots is immense.”
Famed chef Thomas Keller, whose restaurants have collectively earned seven Michelin stars, says O’Connell’s restaurant and Inn have become an international destination and are recognized not just for the food, service, and lodgings, but also for the quality of the overall ethos.
“Patrick is a visionary of extraordinary magnitude; he transformed The Inn at Little Washington, and his dedication turned it into what it is today,” Keller says. “He is also one of the few chefs who has stayed true to one restaurant and one kitchen, and I truly admire him for that.”
A Pioneer
O’Connell was one of the first chefs in the country to focus on farm-to-table regional dining. The Inn earned a Michelin Green Star for exemplary sustainability; indigenous ingredients are sourced from local farmers, ranchers, and the Inn’s own garden, chandelier-clad henhouse, greenhouses, cherry orchard, and beehives.
O’Connell’s rich network of farmers and proprietors first developed decades ago out of necessity. Creating high-caliber regional dining in such a remote location required local sourcing. Today, the menu continues to include meats and produce grown on site or acquired from small, artisan farms.
“To be self-taught and to bring that level of French dining to a tiny but beautiful area while championing local ingredients, I think he will be known as one of the forefathers of America’s regional cooking,” says Stone.
Another undeniable impact O’Connell has had in American culinary circles is providing a proving ground for countless chefs, sommeliers, and hospitality personnel. With work experience from the Inn, former staffers have moved on to achieve great success in restaurants and hotels across the country.
“My time with Chef in his kitchen was extremely beneficial for me, and I experienced what I had only heard in the past — it is all about little details, well done,” says Jose De Brito, former chef at the Inn, now owner-chef at Café Frank in Charlottesville. “I will never forget my time at the Inn; I am a much better cook now because of it.”
Patty O’s Joins the Family
O’Connell expanded his empire in 2022, opening Patty O’s Cafe & Bakery across the street from the Inn. The informal, country-themed restaurant, named as an homage to O’Connell’s childhood nickname, offers an opportunity to experience a taste of the Inn at a lower price point. Diners can stop by for staples such as burgers or pulled pork barbecue sandwiches and get a slice of chocolate bourbon pecan pie from the adjoining bakery.
“It is terrific,” says Pépin. “It’s a very good balance between the elegance of a three-star restaurant and the comfort of the [café] across the street.”
At age 77, O’Connell has no intention of stepping down, saying he finds the concept of retirement peculiar and foreign. Even after 45 years, he considers running the hotel and dining enterprise stimulating, challenging, and educational.
“A wise person once told me retirement is spelled D-E-A-T-H,” he says. “I’m fortunate because what I do has never felt like work.”
And so, The Inn at Little Washington continues to thrive with O’Connell at the helm. Despite his fame and achievements, the consummate chef faithfully mans his post nightly in the kitchen, keeping a watchful eye over the dining room, creating one culinary masterpiece after another.
“He is relentless, passionate, and unstoppable,” Ripert says. “What’s amazing about him is he creates a dream for people — that dream makes him so happy — and actually he’s the one who’s living the dream.”
Feature image courtesy Inn at Little Washington
This story originally ran in our August issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
