Food & Wine & Rappahannock
Food & Wine magazine last week came up with “Nine New Reasons to Visit Virginia Wine Country” — and six of them turned out to be in Rappahannock County, according to travel writer Christina Liva’s report posted Nov. 2 on the magazine’s website (foodandwine.com).
Of the best new places to drink, eat, stay, shop and relax, the following were to be found in (as the magazine put it) “stunning Rappahannock County, where regulations against stoplights and chain stores make it feel like a step back in time”:
In the “Drink” category: Sperryville’s Pen Druid Brewing, which “feels more like Belgium than Virginia, where people of all ages come to connect with family and mingle with neighbors at the long and narrow communal tables.”
In the “Eat” category: Tula’s in Washington, where you can “sit outside in the courtyard when the weather permits and enjoy what they do best — fresh, reliable, classic Americana lunch fare, like Chicken Salad on sourdough, made with chicken raised on a nearby farm.”
In the “Stay” category: The White Moose Inn in Washington, which “offers a contemporary (read: cool) alternative to the ornate and wallpapered country inns and B&B's that were once the area's only options. With Scandinavia-meets-Napa-inspired design” and where “expansion plans slated for 2017 include an additional cottage and a pool, furthering the wine country resort feel.”
And under “Shop,” the Inn at Little Washington’s Village Market, which “brings together an incredible network of local farmers, artisan producers, and craftspeople in a small, charming alley in Little Washington,” and Sperryville’s Waterpenny Farm, which is “not new, but probably the best-kept local secret in the area is [the farm’s] drive-through stand.”
Finally, for the “Relax” category, Little Washington Wellness Spa got Food & Wine’s blessing for “pulling off a palpable holistic vibe in this full-service spa, the first of its kind in the area — from the book of mantras in the waiting room to the salt lamps by the massage tables to the full line of high-end organic products by covetable organic skincare label Eminence.”