La Table Provencale is the epitome of charm. Located inside a beautiful 14 room French country inn, this gem of a restaurant specializes in modern regional cuisine featuring locally sourced ingredients along with their own herbs, fruits and vegetables. Whether you’re celebrating a special occasion or just indulging in a world class meal, chef Richard Wright and his team will give you the experience of a lifetime.
They have an impressive offering so there’s a lot to choose from. If you’re driving more than an hour to get there, we highly recommend splurging on the chef’s tasting menu ($145 pp), but the four course menu’s ($98 pp) great as well. You also have the option of ordering a la carte, and they have a more casual menu available in their bar area – expect craft cocktails and snacks there.
My guest and I went with the four course menu, and our meal started off with a turnip vanilla velouté amuse which was topped with olive oil and espelette. It was light yet flavorful, and we couldn’t think of a better way to kick off dinner. After enjoying this delicate pre-app, our wonderful waiter brought us freshly made bread that came straight out of the oven. They offered us 3 different options, and we of course asked for one of each.
As always, we got different dishes to share. For our first course, we split their caramelized onion soup and their burrata. The former contained brioche and aged comté and was accompanied by a crispy piece of bread topped with a generous dollop of truffle butter. It was freezing outside, so this was the perfect way to warm up. The burrata was equally delicious though, and it came with confit citrus, crispy shallots, cured olives and was tossed in a light lemon vinaigrette. Absolute perfection.
The next course was even more impressive. We ordered chef’s seared foie gras and pork belly, and both were exquisite. The pork was served with a fried soft boiled egg, swiss chard, and shitake mushrooms. The meat was as juicy as can be, and each bite exploded with a richness I can’t even describe. The egg was also an interesting touch. Not only was it stunning presentation wise, but it added a lot to the texture of the dish, which we both appreciated.
The foie gras – available for a $25 supplement – came on a thin piece of banana bread, topped with orchard asian pear, almond and honey. The delicate protein was cooked masterfully, and each bite just melted in your mouth.
Then came our main dishes: Maine diver scallops and duck. The scallops came with butternut squash, brown butter, cubed granny smith apples, brussels sprouts, hazelnuts and verjus, while the duck was served with persimmon, chestnut, duck skin crumble, and mache. It’s hard to choose between the two, but I enjoyed the duck a slight bit more.
Other options were as follows: Atlantic salmon with miso, bok choy, and maitake mushrooms, Ayrshire Farms chicken with toasted barley, mushrooms, leeks, and truffles, and confit short rib with seasonal vegetables, celery root and sauce au poivre. Which entree would you guys get?
And then our final course: dessert. We got to choose from several sweets, but we went with our waitresses’ recommendations because everything she said was spot on up until then. It was a tough choice, but we ended up getting their financier and their chocolate cake. Talk about gorgeous presentation, our plates were almost too beautiful to eat. The “chocolate” had four main components: a crème fraiche crepe cake, TCHO gelato, candied cocoa nibs, and coffee crumble.
Their financier was made with rosemary and poppy, and it came with candy hazelnuts, orange marmalade and a scoop of vanilla gelato. Which dessert looks tastier to you guys? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Alright friends, I hope you enjoyed our latest post featuring La Table Provencale. In my opinion, Middeburg, Virginia is totally underrated. It’s a charming town with great food and spectacular wine so take a day off and enjoy a long weekend of R&R there. I’m definitely planning to come back in the spring so keep an eye out for more features on delicious eats in the area. Until next time – happy eating!
