The Inn at Little Washington – Second Course

Our second course arrived after a nice break for pleasant conversation. Now, I have been known to make a pretty mean macaroni and cheese. In fact, I’ve put the recipe up here for everyone to enjoy. I actually dress it up a bit and make it presentable for polite company. Patrick O’Connell takes it one step further and puts a bowtie and cummerbund on it, teaches it to dance the tango and allows it to mingle with the most refined people on the planet.

I did order the Macaroni and Cheese with Virginia Country Ham and Shaved Black Summer Truffle as my second course and it was quite the revelation. A layer of Virginia country ham had been pounded flat and laid in a neat upon the plate. Atop the ham was arranged a neat line of large size macaroni shapes as if marching off to war. They were covered in cheese and a large curl of deep fried parmesan cheese was cunningly placed as an umbrella as if to war off the afternoon sun. Finally, summer truffle was grated to my liking over this ensemble at the table.

Not to be out done, Ms Cocktail went native and ordered the Maryland Crabcake with Fried Green Tomato an Sweet Corn Succotash. One of the things that Patrick O'Connell emphasizes at his restaurant is the use of local ingredients whenever possible and a list of the local farms that provide ingredients for the restaurant is printed on the back of the menu.  It was the local fried green tomato that tied all of the pieces of this dish together with the acidity brightening the richness of the crabcake and providing counterpoint to the sweet corn succotash. Such is the genius of Mr. O’Connell.