20 APRIL3, 2022
DiningWITH TOM SIETSEMA
Unrated during the
pandemicThe
Restaurant
at Blue Rock
12567 Lee Hwy.,
Washington, Va.
540-987-3388.
bluerockva.com.
Open: Indoor and
outdoor dining 5:30
to 9 p.m. Thursday
through Sunday.
Price: Four-course
dinner for $99.
Sound check: 65
decibels/
Conversation is easy.
Accessibility:
Wheelchair users
can enter from the
rear of the restaurant
or request a ramp to
navigate the step in
the dining room;
ADA-compliant
restroom. Pandemic
protocols: Staffers
are not required to
be vaccinated or to
wear masks.Two things compete for my immediate attention at the
Restaurant at Blue Rock in Washington, Va.
One is a welcome of mushroom tea, a broth of
shiitake, maitake and other fungi poured over a little bundle of
herbs that release their perfume when hit with the steaming
stock. Whatever kind of day you’ve had going into dinner, it
improves with a few sips.
The other grab for my consideration is the view from a table
near one of the restaurant’s windows: yards of grass leading to
a pond giving way to a vineyard culminating in the Blue Ridge
Mountains. The timing of my recent visit coincided with the
sun setting, creating a backdrop of orange yielding to magenta,
and a feeling of gratitude. How lovely to have such an escape
from the noisier Washington, less than two hours away.
A contemporary take on the old-school country inn, Blue
Rock emerged in October from a year-and-a-half-long,
$2 million makeover. Lodgers can select from five guest rooms
within the inn, plus a five-bedroom farmhouse on the 80-acre
property in Rappahannock County. Diners choose between a
pub-like, 20-seat tasting room (think burgers, Caesars and
fried chicken) and the reservation-only, 32-seat restaurant.
The subject of this review, the restaurant highlights a four-
course dinner for $99 a person.
Diners who think of tasting menus as rigid can relax; there’s
flexibility between the lines, a few choices per course, as well asThe view
captivates,
but the meal
exhilarates
In addition to a restaurant and tasting room, Blue Rock has five guest rooms in its inn.