“Apparently a Pear” dish at The Inn at Little Washington
In the middle of nowhere, in a small Virginia town with a population of less than 150, lies The Inn at Little Washington, a luxurious three-Michelin-star restaurant with guest rooms spanning the property. Opened in an abandoned garage more than 40 years ago, the Inn has become a dreamlike culinary paradise, and for the first time, people are catching a glimpse of what its 74-year-old chef and proprietor, Patrick O’Connell, refers to as a “living theater.” Produced in conjunction with VPM, “The Inn at Little Washington: A Delicious New Documentary” premieres on PBS March 27, offering a snapshot of life at the Inn over a year and a half beginning in 2017.
“Sometimes I feel as if the reality is almost more fascinating than the illusion,” says O’Connell, a 2019 James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. “People today seem not always able to embrace the idea that they can throw their whole selves into something and be one with it … from watching the film, it is more than just food on the table or plate, it is an art form.”
Part of the Inn’s mystique is that, along with its self-taught chef-owner, it has not simply maintained its identity, it has evolved.
“That’s part of the culture and the DNA, to do whatever we did yesterday much better today,” says O’Connell, who plans to open a cafe near the Inn in late 2020.
O’Connell and his familial cast of employees possess a magical and intrinsic commitment to their profession that seems as natural as his Dalmatian-print chef's pants, an ode to his favorite canines and, most notably, his current rescue dog, Luray.
Patrick O’Connell, chef-owner of The Inn at Little Washington
The film has been described by 20-year veteran director and producer Mira Chang as a synthesis of “Downton Abbey” and “Chef’s Table,” with a character-driven ensemble. Her team’s biggest concern was respecting the “private refuge” that O’Connell spent decades conceiving.
“It was about trusting what the intention was and what we would do with that info,” Chang says. “They are all extremely aware that they are part of something really big and special.”
O’Connell says the process of filming, which ranged from quick interviews with one camera to several days of shadowing with a dozen-strong crew, involved a high level of trust, but after about 45 minutes, most days he forgot the filmmakers were there. In his eyes, the most charming moments Chang captured are those with staff. Some of his 150 employees have worked there for 25 years and span generations.
While longevity at work can sometimes be equated with a lack of enthusiasm, in the case of the Inn, O’Connell says, “Nothing could be farther from the truth, and that’s kind of rare. In this peaceful little utopian hideaway, you never know what you’re going to expect when you come to work, and it’s kind of a thrill.”
While the documentary reveals O’Connell’s obsessive, eccentric perfectionism, it’s also balanced with moments of humor.
“I think so many attempts to capture chefs’ works or well-known restaurants end up being a bit over-serious,” O’Connell says, “and one big element of our culture is humor and the ability to have fun.”
At the core of the documentary is an inspiring story of unwavering dedication and passion that extends far beyond the meal or the little town the Inn calls home.
“I think the most interesting part of the story was the conflict with the town,” Chang says, noting the struggles and backlash O’Connell, who was awarded the National Humanities Medal late last year, faced both while establishing the Inn as an openly gay man with then-partner Reinhardt Lynch in 1978, and later when expanding its footprint.
“What I was hoping to [share] is a more universal story of someone who did something out of nothing,” Chang explains. “We came back at one point and thought, 'This is the American dream.' ”
A memorable moment of filming, one that O’Connell also mentions, occurred during their last interview together. “I think there was a turning point. … He started opening up about the past and what he had gone through to build this place,” Chang says. The duo visited the original plot of land O’Connell purchased, a shack in the woods where he studied the works of Julia Child and taught himself how to cook before the Inn came to be. “It felt like, wow, here’s really where the story begins.”
It was a visual representation of a transformation 40 years in the making.
“It will astonish people to see how far the Inn has come and what its roots were … what my life was like way back then and what the culture was like and what America was like,” O’Connell says. “The film not only tells the story of the Inn but is an encapsulation of 45 years of America’s culinary evolution.”
