Little Washington has spent the better part of the last forty years being built up on the reputation of its esteemed inn and restaurant, The Inn at Little Washington. Chef Patrick O’Connell’s monument to haute American cuisine has been a staple in the culinary scene for decades, culminating in its third Michelin star in 2018. But living in the deified shadow of the excellent Inn is a sister outfit, Patty O’s Café and Bakery, that serves up a more relaxed and wholly less ostentatious dining experience. Today we explore whether it has the strength to stand on its own.
On approach its hard to envision how the building used to be a gas station. Where the gas pumps would have been is now replaced with a beautiful outdoor seating area with giant billowy umbrellas to shade patrons from the sun. I thank our lucky stars that we had the forethought to book a reservation in advance for a spot in the dining room inside, because while the experience of eating outside on the patio seems lovely in practice on a cool and breezy day, our day of visit was anything but cool and breezy.
Immediately inside the restaurant is a gorgeously outfitted bar with ornate decorations lining the walls and the ceilings. In the next room was a more laid back, subtle dining room. Knick knacks still lined the walls, but the thick wooden trusses that stretched across the ceiling, the cool hardwood floors, and the thick engulfing chairs gave the impression of a quiet hunting lodge or a base camp of a ski resport. Maybe a ski resort in the French Alps.
Our service was adequate. Nothing spectacular or anything to write home about. However, seeing as I am writing something about it, I should probably say it pales in comparison to the service we received at the sister restaurant across the street: a missed opportunity to create a cohesive synergy between the two restaurants by having both locations provide unconditionally excellent service. But I guess that’s not totally fair considering one of those restaurants has three Michelin stars and has been a mecca for foodie pilgrimages for decades.
Walking around the outskirts of The Inn before our lunch reservation at Patty O’s afforded us the opportunity to get the inside scoop from an intrepid valet on how we should be approaching our lunch: the shrimp and grits and/or the Reuben. The shrimp and grits were a lock; my sister already had her eyes on that dish from the start. The Reuben was a game time decision for my mother who was waffling back and forth between that and something “lighter” like the curried chicken salad croissant to save her appetite for The Inn later that evening. The latter won out. As for me, I ordered the wagyu beef burger—a surprisingly bold choice as I typically do not love the overindulgence of ground wagyu for the purpose of a burger.
Additionally, the latter two meals came with a side of our choice. To accompany my mother’s chicken salad croissant, she went with the fries: a neutral choice that was sure to not ruffle any feathers. As is classic with someone with severe indecision and a fear of missing out, I also ordered the fries but immediately corrected myself to the waitress and clarified that I now wanted the carrots glazed in root beer. A more inspired choice if I do say so myself.
I’ll start with the easiest to review: the curried chicken salad on a croissant with currants and Virginian pecans with a side of fries that my mother ordered. She housed half her sandwich and conveniently forgot to offer any up to anyone else, so I have no comments on the quality of her dish. The rest was packaged up and sent home to my father. It looked incredible though. The fries were excellent. Hot, crispy, salty. She seemed to enjoy her meal and that’s all that matters.
I had a quick bite of my sister’s dish. The shrimp and grits were excellent. The grits were perfectly creamy with a nice peppery bite. The shrimp was bouncy and delicious. Our inside source did not let us down. He did stress the fact, though, that the portion size of the shrimp and grits were smaller than one might want. I respectfully want to push back on that. The portion was generous for lunch; enough to sate someone’s appetite, especially if there is an expectation of going to The Inn for dinner in much the same way we did later that night. Especially in that situation, trust me: it’s plenty.
The carrots glazed in root beer was a fun side dish. I’m partial to Coca Cola as a cooking ingredient, especially when it comes to braising. I find the flavors of the Coke meld into a dish a bit better than the root beer did. For better or for worse, the root beer flavor was quite aggressive. For my sensibilities I quite enjoyed it. The carrots were fork tender and the vanilla-y, anise-y flavor of the root beer added a nice note of saccharine sweetness. I was a fan. The other members of my table were not as impressed. But it was a side dish after all and next up was my wagyu burger.
The burger was topped with comté cheese, crispy onions, and what appeared to be a variation on ketchup (there is a tomato jam listed on the black bean and beet burger, on the menu so I’m guessing that’s what was on this dish too and that’s how I’m going to refer to it for the rest of this review). Underneath the burger were a couple briny pickles and a slice of lettuce. The bun was extremely buttery and covered in sesame seeds.
I have to say: I went through trials with my burger. First and foremost, the sesame seeds shed something awful whenever I handled the burger. I had to resort at one point to cutting it up with a fork and knife because my hands became a buttery, sesame seeded mess. The bun was also too thick. The overall structure of the burger can summarily be characterized as “too bready”. But it may have ultimately been a good thing that there was so much bun. As is often the case with a wagyu burger, the patty was drippingly moist. I think that contributed partly to the mess I had on my hands, but a lot of that juice sogged the bun.
Do not get me wrong. The flavors of the burger were incredible. My burger was cooked appropriately and the sweetness of the tomato jam and the brininess of the pickles worked beautifully to cut through the fattiness of the beef. I just struggled to eat the damn thing. By the end of it when the patty was consumed and there were still large pieces of jam-dampened bread remaining on the plate, I waved the white flag to signal my surrender.
Onwards and upwards to dessert! Attached to the dining room of the café is the bakery of Patty O’s Café and Bakery. After our lunch we popped in there for a quick sampler of dessert offerings. An assortment of goodies, including traditional cookies and desserts as well as crusty breads for sale. This is a full bakery worthy of one’s full attention.
The chocolate mousse was a star—light and airy, smooth as butter as the spoon skated across to scrape it out of its glass container. Our next favorite was the pecan pie. The pecans were full-bodied and crunchy and covered in the sweet glaze of the pie filling. This was the second favorite, but for me only just. The last dessert we sampled was a lemon bar. It was thick and cakey with the exact right amount of lemon. It’s a delicate balance to be sure as too much lemon can send a lemon bar into a tart spiral, but this one walked the tightrope immaculately.
Patty O’s served as a wonderful opener to our day in Little Washington, but I think it’d be wrong to not point out that it couldn’t be more than that. It’s open for dinner as a much cheaper alternative to The Inn at Little Washington, and if our lunch experience is anything to go off of, dinner is sure to carry its weight.
And for future visitors: keep your eyes open at Patty O’s. You never know what famous politician and his wife might find their way to being seated at the table right next to yours.