The following is an extended version of the article that appears in our July 2024 issue.
David Shannon, chef and owner of L’Opossum (Photo by Abigail Grey Johnston)
Stepping across the threshold at L’Opossum is like being shot through a portal that transports visitors to another dimension. Flamboyant yet precise, refined yet wild, that dimension is deep inside the mind of the restaurant’s chef and sole proprietor, David Shannon.
Diners get a hint of what’s in store on L’Opossum’s website. Front and center is a quote from the 1990 David Lynch film “Wild at Heart,” in which Laura Dern as Lulu says, “The whole world is wild at heart and weird on top.”
Reflecting on the quote, Shannon muses, “I think it is undeniably true, and I hope it prepares L’Opossum visitors to expect the unexpected and be open to seeing the beauty in it.”
The Richmond native introduced his debonair marsupial to Oregon Hill in 2014. After attending the New England Culinary Institute, Shannon cooked French classics in New Orleans before landing a job at the renowned, Michelin-starred Inn at Little Washington in Northern Virginia. There, he worked his way up to executive sous chef before returning home, where he served a stint in the kitchen at Helen’s. He later opened Dogwood Grille & Spirits, which he sold in 2007 before taking a hiatus from the dining world.
L’Opossum is the culmination of an impressive culinary career and a lifetime amassing art and objects that reflect Shannon’s signature style. His vision for the space was unique and deliberate: mirrored walls, deep red paint, pops of florals, phallic stained-glass pieces and swag lamps hanging from the ceiling. “People were like, ‘Are you sure about that?’” Shannon says with a laugh, “and I was like, ‘Yeah, I think we’re gonna give it a shot.’ There’s something to be said for authentically presenting something, whether or not it’s welcome by all or understood by all.”
Shannon is deliberate and considered in every aspect of L’Opossum. What might look like a random assortment of tchotchkes to the untrained eye reflects Shannon’s penchant for curation. It’s here that the chef can flex his background as an art history major, hiding referential Easter eggs in plain sight for anyone who cares to look.
But Shannon will be the first to note that L’Opossum’s fanciful dining room only works because of the unwavering execution and precision everywhere else. “It has to be supported by the food and service and the bar,” he says. “That can’t falter.”
Several of the dishes Shannon opened the restaurant with, such as the Filet Mignon of Beef Swellington or Vegan Orgy on Texas Beach, remain, though they’ve evolved over time. Menu development is collaborative, and any addition or change must make sense in the framework of L’Opossum. That strict attention to detail has earned Shannon accolades, including being named a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic region in 2016.
The dimly lit dining room of Oregon Hill’s L’Opossum is dotted with eclectic art and personal touches. (Photo by Abigail Grey Johnston)
“David has always said that each plate has to be better than the last, even the staple dishes,” says chef de cuisine Jared Martin, who has worked in L’Opossum’s kitchen since 2014, minus a brief absence. “Little tweaks over the years have always just kind of made them better, or maybe just a little new.”
There’s a reason that reservations at L’Opossum are notoriously difficult to land. The food is Escoffier meets Liberace — a dazzling study in classical French technique presented in unmatched style on gold-rimmed plates. Visual artist Susan Worsham has been working as a server at L’Opossum since day one. She always encourages guests, especially first-timers, to start their meal with what she calls a “fancy picnic,” a combination of rich Les Escargots à la Ham Biscuit and the Fabergé Egg Bèdazzled With Caviar & Dill Cured Salmon.
“You have little deviled eggs with chilled lobster salad and Champagne jigglers that melt in your mouth,” she says. “Those are just clean, light, layered flavors. And then the Escargots à la Ham Biscuit is nice and rich.” Worsham says she takes time off just to eat at L’Opossum, and when she does, her order is always the same — Escargots and Filet Mignon of Beef Swellington. “It’s my favorite food, and it’s always consistent.”
By focusing on technique, producing layered dishes and providing exemplary service, Shannon says he feels free to be as fun and whimsical as he wants. “Keeping it light and playful is very deliberate,” he notes. “You get heavy and bogged down with serious food. I didn’t want to be a serious restaurant.”
That sentiment has proven true during some of L’Opossum’s legendary ticketed dinners, such as the time Shannon booked Puddles, a 7-foot singing sad clown, as a surprise during an honorary dinner for his mentor, Inn at Little Washington chef Patrick O’Connell, or the raucous food-porn-themed dinner in 2018 with adult film star Jack Vidra and author Madison Moore.
Photo by Kate Magee
And I just kept thinking, ‘You know what, I’m going to play.’ It just all entertains me. It’s fun to do. I think that’s why it works.
—David Shannon, L’Opossum
While those nights were a master class in “surprise and delight,” General Manager Will Seidensticker, who’s been with L’Opossum since 2016, notes that people celebrate major milestones at the restaurant year-round. “It’s very common to wait on somebody’s 50th anniversary. We’ve even had 70th anniversaries,” he says. “Hearing those people’s stories, and what they’re taking from it — because everybody takes something different from it — is really rewarding.”
Many of those guests have become faithful regulars over the years, including Herb and Betsy Hill. “From the unique ambiance of eclectic art and music to the creative and themed descriptions of cocktails and menu choices, it truly is one of a kind,” Herb says.
“Every single detail in this place is one man,” Worsham says reverentially. “You’re in a man’s vision. I feel really lucky, just as someone who’s also an artist, to be working here, to be serving this amazing food.”
For Shannon, L’Opossum couldn’t exist any other way. Each careful choice over the last decade has built on his original vision to make the restaurant the standout it is today. “A lot of these things were on a long list that people said you can never do in a restaurant: You can’t put this art on the walls, you can’t play this music, you can’t write like this,” he says. “And I just kept thinking, ‘You know what, I’m going to play.’ It just all entertains me. It’s fun to do. I think that’s why it works.”
His words call to mind another quote from “Wild at Heart,” in which Sheryl Lee as the Good Witch tells Nicolas Cage as Sailor, “If you are truly wild at heart, you’ll fight for your dreams.”
