Joe and I had the pleasure of celebrating this Valentine’s Day in true luxury at The Inn at Little Washington. It has been a major bucket list item to eat at a Michelin Star Restaurant and I was lucky to have my first experience be a Three Star Michelin.
If you are curious of the Michelin Restaurant experience, read on!
Michelin is the same Michelin, the tire company that we all know!
The Michelin Guide was created in the early 1900s to serve as a resource for French motorists looking for good dining. Their goal had been to deliver clear and useful information like hotel locations, gas vendors, etc as a way to market their tires. The Michelin Guide became very popular and unlike other rating systems, this one is based on three stars. Being awarded a Michelin star is a big deal!
These are the ratings by Michelin:
One star: “A very good restaurant in its category”
Two stars: “Excellent cooking, worth a detour”
Three Stars: “Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey”
Restaurants are judged on the following criteria,
— Using Quality Products
— Mastery of Flavor and Cooking Techniques
— Personality of Chef in the Cuisine
— Value for the Money and “WOW” Factor
— Consistency of Food
Michelin only reviews restaurants in certain regions. As a result, Michelin stars are in just 23 countries on 3 continents. In the USA, Michelin restaurants are located in Washington, DC, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco.
The Inn at Little Washington is in a quaint town in Washington, VA. Their list of rewards is not short. They have the highest accolade of three stars, “exceptional cuisine worth a special journey.”
Chef Patrick O’Connell has the National Humanities Medal which honors individuals whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of the humanities. Additionally, he also has the 2019 James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award which is given to somebody whose lifetime body of work “has a long-lasting impact on the way we eat, cook, and think about food in America.”
La Liste, the French-based guide to the world’s best restaurants, ranks The Inn at #6 in the world.
The 2019 Forbes Travel Guide has awarded The Inn Five Stars for the 31st year in a row, making it the longest-tenured Five Star restaurant in the world.
Firstly, if you want to eat at a Michelin Star Restaurant (especially a Three Michelin Star Restaurant), you will need to make a reservation ahead of time. For example, Joe made the reservation for us 4 months in advance and was able to snag one of the last time slots available on Valentine’s Day at 8:45 PM.
We had to put down a $200 deposit and it’s my understanding that most Michelin Restaurants have a cancellation policy. To sum up, you will want to make sure you know these details before making the commitment!
The Inn at Little Washington offered tasting menus with two options. A tasting menu has several dishes in small portions and served as a single meal. It is a series of 5, 7, or up to 10 courses. A tasting menu usually includes complimentary bread. Although the portions are small, you will be rather full by the end of the night!
Eating at a Michelin Star restaurant is truly a fine dining experience. Our meal took about three hours. Don’t worry, the time will fly by. There is no shortage of entertainment. Well-trained waiters will inform you of the dishes and the components to take note of. After all, each dish should be savored, they were Michelin starred specifically for their cuisine!
The Inn at Little Washington is very upfront about the cost of their tasting menu at $265/person. This is the baseline cost for your meal. Wine pairing is an additional $180. Additional drinks you order are added to that cost.
Additionally, gratuity will be included in your final bill. Yes, you will be paying a hefty amount but the food truly is exquisite and of the highest quality.
Funnily, my husband thought that the dress code would be Black-Tie but he was wrong! At The Inn at Little Washington, there is no dress code. Actually, they want you to be comfortable while you dine. I saw a guest dining in a hoodie (although, I’m sure that is a very rare occurrence). We chose to dress up because it was a special occasion after all!
I’m sure I will be dreaming about our restaurant dining experience at The Inn at Little Washington for years to come. It was one of the best dining experiences I’ve had and I did linger in a few moments of sadness after we left. I hope to be able to visit again soon! I have my eyes on French Laundry next. Maybe we’ll have a chance to plan a trip to California soon!
If you are curious about Greenville restaurants, check out my review of some of them here.
You can check out our experience on Instagram as well, here.
[…] — *The Inn at Little Washington* – now this one is a drive (an hour and 15 minutes from Charlottesville, VA) but we had our Valentine’s Day Dinner. It is a three-star Michelin restaurant which means it is “worth the journey ;)” If you’d like to read about our experience, check it out here. […]
[…] Our Valentine’s Weekend Vacation: Getting to check out a Michelin Restaurant and have a romantic weekend in Charlottesville was definitely the highlight of this month. We even […]
