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Very Best Restaurants: Inn At Little Washington

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Inn At Little Washington ****
Washington , $$$

Nobody cossets like the Inn at Little Washington. This gorgeous dining room with hand-painted fabric walls, a Garden of Edenlike peach orchard on the ceiling, deep carpets, and brown velvet banquettes is a lush haven. Then there is the servicequietly assured, catering without fanfare. Nearly every table is an A-lister, but the most private corner is an L-shaped banquette at the rear of the room. All this and a menu unsparing in its devotion to foie gras, truffles, and Valrhona chocolate somehow makes a very expensive couple of hours seem worth almost every penny.

The four-course meal$78 to $98 a person, depending on the day of the weekcomes with a bevy of extras: canapes, a demitasse of parsnip soup, and a basket of house-made chocolates, cookies, and candied orange peel.

Patrick O'Connell's bold menu changes daily, but all those dishes you may have heard aboutcarpaccio of baby lamb, boudin blanc, veal sweetbreads, lobster, venisonare there in one guise or another. It's the backdrop that shifts ever so slightly. On a recent foray, seared foie gras was parked on a hillock of polenta, country ham, and huckleberries. Andrew Lloyd Webber, a recent diner, adored this. Similarly, the risotto with shrimp and chanterelles was served with white-truffle shavings, the boudin blanc with apple coulis.

After such treasures, main courses like roasted lamb with garlic-parsley crust seem a mite restrained, but they offer a solid counterpoint to the fireworks beforehand and the desserts still to come.

These last are such gems as Valrhona chocolate cake with roasted-banana ice cream, lavender-scented creme brulee, and pumpkin ice-cream roulade with ginger anglaise, all spectacular.

Inn At Little Washington , Middle and Main streets, Washington ; 540-675-3800. Open daily (except Tuesday) for dinner. MapIt!

QUALITY: ****Excellent; *** Superior; **Very Good; * Good
PRICE RANGE: $$$= Very Expensive; $$ Expensive; $=Moderate; ¢=Inexpensive

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