I’ve been there once, in 2010 or 2011. My wife and I lived in DC, went for a getaway weekend, and stayed in a small B&B down the street. Our dinner was superb and the ‘99 Truchot Gevrey Combottes was wonderful. It was $120. As it turns out, quite a bargain. The mooing cheese cart was fun. Destination restaurants are a wonderful thing. I hope they persist.
My wife and I went to the Inn for the first time in a very long time this past Spring. It is very pricey, but, I think, if that is what you are in the market for, it is a 3 star experience. Every dish doesn’t just taste wonderful but is inventive and the service is superb. It’s up to you whether any restaurant is worth that much. For much less, you can go to Auberge Provencal in White Post and get a wonderful dinner. It won’t be quite the same thing, but it will be very, very good. I love Bresca, but I don’t consider it nearly the same thing. I don’t know that I’d go back to the Inn anytime soon given the price, but it is worth experiencing.
Absolutely personal choice. I love Jose Andres and frequent his restaurants but have no interest in Minibar; too much time in the lab, too little focus on the ingredients. The Inn is far more traditional, which I like. Everything about a visit to the Inn is absolutely top-drawer: outstanding food, broad and accommodating menu, and low key, friendly service down to Patrick welcoming you in the kitchen (and wow what a kitchen!) after your meal if you’d like. A diner feels welcomed and appreciated as a customer, instead of being made to feel as if he or she should feel grateful for the opportunity to eat there, as with many of the so-called temples of gastronomy.
The cost is now insane for sure, and we haven’t been in a couple of years, but I have never felt cheated on the ride home.
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What’s the secret to getting a res at IALW?
The only way I know of to get a guaranteed reservation without playing the book a long way in advance game is to stay there. Guests at the Inn get guaranteed dinner reservations. Not sure what room availability looks like, however.
It really is a beautiful and serene kitchen. The only photo I could find right now doesn’t do it justice, but everything was spotless, there was classical music playing and every movement seemed graceful and unhurried.
Not sure where you got $400 for Tondonia Gran Riservas, if you are talking about 1995 as current release, it’s as low as $120 (WsPro), and if you were referring to 2001, which is being released soon, that is $200. If you were talking about 1994, its $275.
$200 is for Tondonia GR red. W-s low for blanco is $400.
My mistake, automatically assumed it was red as the word “blanco” was not mentioned in the tittle. You are correct, the blanco is much more expensive now than the red. Glad to have a couple of those 2001 blancos incoming (got them a a much more reasonable price of $170, which is also the same price I paid for the 2001 Bosconia GR).
Despite all of the complaints in the other thread, I’m glad to see you got some excellent, aged wines at very reasonable (IMO) prices. A lot of lists like this (extensive, thoughtfully curated) have gems on there for people who recognize them.
Now that we have IALW sorted out, what the hell is TLDR?
THDB, Too Hard, Didn’t Bother.
also for those on that tangent, minibar is closed and is almost certainly not coming back
My own complaints were pretty limited and generalized. There were certainly a full page of older and therefore relatively good values. Maybe we say 2 pages to be generous…
The list was 90 pages, so it was a bit laborious to find them. But I totally agree that there were great wines there and we certainly found them!
I usually peruse the list before we go. We usually do the wine pairings but we took the kids last year and 4x the pairing costs made picking off the list easy for 2 really good bottles.
Staying overnight there, at least once, is worth the expense. Some friends went last year and although the loved it my friend’s wife could not get over the price. I’m sure that cut into her enjoyment. I’m sure the cost was not a stretch.
Surely it must have appeared in your book’s reviews?
There are some for this week on tock; then it looks like they’re sold out into feb unless you’re getting a room.
Yeah I looked. I’m guessing they hold res for rooms and then open them up right before. There were res available for today on the website yesterday and then more opened today for this week.
Too long, didn’t read