The pandemic arrived just weeks after Shawn Malone sold his stake in Purcellville’s Magnolias at the Mill, the restaurant where he was managing partner. “You could say it was divine intervention,” says the Marshall-based restaurateur.
But the following years were far from smooth sailing. His brother and business partner, Michael “Kevin” Malone, and his centenarian mother both died in 2023. Kevin had opened Tuscarora Mill in Leesburg in 1985, and the brothers followed that success with Magnolias and Fire Works Pizza. But Malone wasn’t ready to leave the restaurant business for good. And fans of Bistro @ The Porch in The Plains are grateful.
After a well-deserved break from the industry, Malone was ready to open another Fire Works closer to his Fauquier County home. A restaurant broker friend directed him to Front Porch Market and Grill in The Plains. The restaurant’s owners had made headlines for a conflict with their neighbors, and they were ready to give up the fight. But Malone says it didn’t seem like the right fit for pizza.
“I joke that I bought myself a restaurant for Christmas,” Malone says. He closed the deal on December 26, 2023, and took possession of the building on February 1. The staff, including chef Ed Kellams, stayed on during that time and helped to make the speedy five-week process of renovations and reopening a relative breeze.
The result? A packed dining room that’s no longer “Soviet gray and Hulk green,” as Malone described it. Instead, his neighborhood restaurant is covered in colorful art. Servers in T-shirts bring a casual air to the dining room, where the food ranges from nachos and burgers to seafood and ramen.
The menu changes every two weeks. A current favorite is Kellams’ scallops. The bivalves are served wrapped in prosciutto and crowned with crispy pork belly. Goat cheese mousse and blood orange oil bestow the dish with a tang that lifts the salty pork to new heights. There’s more fish to come, says “seafood fanatic” Malone. From shrimp and grits to crabcakes, locals can pair their craft cocktails with the fruits of the briny.
And the neighborhood is, well, eating it up. “It’s been very gratifying,” Malone says of his sold-out nights. “People come in and say, ‘We used to like this place, but we’ve been back twice and now we love it.’” Bistro @ The Porch: 6483 Main St., The Plains
Feature image of Shawn Malone by Rey Lopez
This story originally ran in our June issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
