Vintage Restaurant
Travelers hailing from Richmond, Virginia; D.C.; or further afield seek out Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Inn at Willow Grove. This restored 1778 plantation house with overnight cottages and spa treatments turns a simple country excursion into a special occasion.
That’s due in no small part to the inn’s Vintage Restaurant and its varied offerings. Sunday brunch brings in crowds with a French toast “brick” with mascarpone and mixed fruit coulis, and a generous serving of fried green tomato bruschetta. Vintage revives the Sunday Supper tradition with dishes like peppermint-crusted rack of lamb with pineapple-mint jelly.
Visit the Four-Star restaurant on a Wednesday to sample the tapas menu. On Thursdays, executive chef Kenneth Hughes creates three-course prix fixe selections from seasonal produce. Whenever you go, you’ll be treated to upscale Southern cuisine in a warm exposed-brick space.
- The inn’s imposing white columns
and boxwood gardens provide the aura of a historic plantation while the menus
speak to a contemporary era.
- On a recent visit, we were greeted
with a basket of fresh-from-the-oven pastries and encouraged to take more than
one. It’s just the way to start the morning.
- Vintage specializes in
farm-to-table cuisine using seasonal, regional ingredients. Meals include a
dollop of whipped butter with a dot of local honey.
- Recent renovations of the centuries-old
building created a half-dozen different dining areas, meaning that dining can
be an intimate or social experience, accommodating couples or larger groups,
including wedding parties.
- Sample smaller helpings of Vintage’s dishes,
like pumpkin-seed-crusted fried oysters with remoulade, and pan-seared halibut with
warm tomato, basil and cured olive compote and herb-infused couscous during
Gourmet Tapas Wednesdays.
- Restaurant hours vary by day.
Weekends — especially Sunday brunch — are typically the most popular.
- Since the Vintage Restaurant
resides in The Inn at Willow Grove, you’ll see the full spectrum of resort
wear, from crisp linen shorts and espadrilles to starched pocket squares tucked
inside club jackets.
- The Virginia restaurant closes on
Monday and Tuesday.
- The pub and lunch menu has more
casual fare, including grilled fish tacos, chicken Parmesan on brioche and a
burger with aged cheddar and housemade steak sauce.
- At dinner, expect choices like
coffee-covered filet of beef with pomme frites, sautéed spinach and smoked blue
cheese, shallot and port wine butter, or grilled double cut pork chop with Yukon
potatoes, cabbage, parsley, kale and candied bacon.
- While the menu skews Southern, it
does include more global offerings, including sesame-crusted ahi tuna with avocado
and artichoke orzo, snap peas, orange soy glaze and wasabi oil, or chicken
saltimbocca with buttermilk whipped potatoes, braised chard and sage pan sauce.
- With an emphasis on seasonal
produce, the menu is easy to navigate for vegetarians. The spring edition
featured a “three way salad” with a spotlight on carrots (carrot pesto, roasted
carrots and shaved carrots with arugula) as well as a hearty roasted asparagus
and semolina fettuccine with almond pesto and tomato concasse.
- History buffs — and those dining
solo — should belly up to the bar and chat up the local gentry, who have made
the more casual pub their watering hole of choice and love to share stories of
hunt races at nearby Montpelier, the former home of President James Madison.
- If you’d rather sip your dessert
than use a spoon, the bar has a number of sweet selections on the menu. A few post-dinner
delights that caught our eye recently are the Dreamsicle (Bacardi rum, Cointreau, orange juice, vanilla
simple syrup, egg white and cream) and Grasshopper (Godiva chocolate liqueur, crème de menthe,
vanilla-mint purée and cream).
- The Orange restaurant is a multiple Wine
Spectator Award of Excellence winner. Peruse the strong wine list for international
pours, California varietals and some local Virginia selections.
Bar
Breakfast
Brunch
Business casual
Dinner
Gluten-free options
Lunch
Outdoor seating
Private dining
Reservations recommended 
Self-parking
Vegetarian options
