Living the Luxe Life in Virginia

How could a woman possibly dine out (that’s dine, not eat) without a classic Chanel handbag and its slightly curved “smile pocket” designed to hold tips?

I'’ll manage somehow, because the black Chanel bag that I looked at was $2,800, slightly beyond my budget.

I saw it at Tysons Galleria during a four-day wine and dine tour headquartered in Fairfax County, Virginia. The galleria opened into my hotel, the Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner, which saved me a walk outside in steamy summer heat.

Cool and spacious, this luxury shopping center boasts the highest of high end boutiques, such as Chanel and Versace, where mimosas, cookies and chocolate truffles were set out the morning I stepped inside. That’s my kind of shopping.

Virginia Wines

But I had other things to taste, such as Virginia wines. Yes, Virginia, there is wine in Virginia, a lot of it--153 wineries so far and another 10 set to open by the end of summer.

I tasted astonishingly good Viognier and Petit Verdot, two varietals that thrive in this state. And I brought home two bottles that intrigued airport security inspectors so much they broke into my suitcase. No harm to the bottles, but the suitcase is finished.

My hotel was only 15 minutes from Dulles airport. And wine country was close by. I was able to visit both Pearmund Cellars Winery and The Winery at La Grange after lunch and get back in plenty of time for dinner (great Italian food at Dante Ristorante in Great Falls).

Vinifera Wine Bar

If you’re on too tight a schedule for wine touring, there’s an easy solution. Go to Vinifera Wine Bar & Bistro at the Westin Hotel in Reston Heights.

The hotel opened in May and is so spanking new that carpet was still going down in the wine bar as I walked in for lunch.

Vinifera offers more than 275 wines, including 30 or more by the glass, as well as sommelier-level advice on what to choose.

The food is interesting and very good. I had delicious citrusy tuna tartare and the richest, creamiest asparagus soup imaginable, accompanied by grilled asparagus stalks.

Vinifera provided my only taste of Virginia ham on this trip, thin slices tucked into brioche bread along with herb cheese and a sweet Port and fig spread.

The wine: a 2007 Virginia Pinot Grigio from Barboursville Vineyards.

Afternoon Champagne

Because I was booked into a luxury hotel,  I took along pearls and dressy outfits only to find that sporty casual clothes were fine--even when I went to the Ritz-Carlton’s exclusive 24th floor club for late afternoon champagne (Perrier Jouet Grand Brut).

From this vantage point, I could see the Washington Monument—a tiny pale spike rising out of greenery stretching to the horizon. I haven’t seen so many trees since I was in Kerala in south India, where coconut palms blanket the land.

Dining at the Ritz

Dinner in the Ritz’s Maestro restaurant was as elegant as one would expect from a place that has seen $1,000-a plate private events.

Maestro is undergoing a redesign and will reopen in the fall with a new name and concept. Hotel guests can still eat breakfast and lunch there until Labor Day. After that, construction begins. 

Our dinner, therefore, had to be specially arranged. And it merited Maestro’s full glamor regalia—tablecloths with shimmering gold stripes, Versace butter plates. The open kitchen was empty. The food was prepared elsewhere in the hotel.

Dinner started with a single fat Georges Bank sea scallop accompanied by English pea ravioli with sorrel jus on one side and sweet potato sauce on the other. The wine: 2004 Riesling Grand Cru Schlosberg, Ehrhart, from Alsace.

More seafood came next--a small square of Kona kompachi (yellowtail from Hawaii) on spinach caviar, accompanied by a Pinot Noir reduction and carrot sauce. The wine was 2006 Cristom Jefferson Vineyard Pinot Noir from Oregon.

Wagyu New York strip arrived on an aqua glass artist’s palette with faux paint indentations that held the accompaniments: bearnaise sauce, meat jus, creamed spinach, asparagus and mushrooms.

What else to eat with this but Parmesan truffled French fries? Our wine was Cinque (a combination of five varietals) from Puglia/Abruzzi.

A pretty pink late harvest wine, Graticcio, Scubla, Verduzzo 1997 from Friuli accompanied an all-blueberry dessert—cheesecake, sorbet and compote.

No wonder that the next morning we reported to the hotel spa to recover with a massage, followed by breakfast beside the pool.

Cooking Class

During the tour, we not only ate, we cooked. Knives and cutting boards were set at each place for a cooking class at the Lebanese Taverna in Tysons Galleria.

Chef Mohamad Abdallah taught us to make the taverna’s signature hommos, stuffed grape leaves, tabouleh salad and the lightest baklava I have ever encountered—vegan baklava, laden with pistachios.

As we studied, we nibbled on meat-stuffed pastries, tabouleh, kibbeh, creamy eggplant and wonderful grilled lamb.

The taverna claims to be the largest user of lamb on the East Coast, but it is also known for vegetarian and vegan food.

Wolf Trap

The only event at which I was overdressed was a concert (Gladys Knight) at Wolf Trap. Accustomed to the Hollywood Bowl, where one shivers as soon as the sun goes down, I took along a shawl.  Just carrying it was torture on such a hot, humid night and marked me as an ignorant tourist.

The Hollywood Bowl may have more comfortable weather, but Wolf Trap has a better place to eat—Ovations restaurant.

It’s a jolly, open air, casual place topped with a tent-like roof and ceiling fans. An 80th birthday party was in progress at the table next to mine.

The buffet ($28) looked good, but in the heat I settled for a single dish, oven-roasted salmon on truffled polenta, topped with a kalamata-studded fennel and orange salad. The wine: Ste. Michelle Riesling 2007.

Cruising the Potomac

Six fat chocolate-coated strawberries placed in my room that evening enabled me to last until brunch the next day—on the Potomac.

We cruised on Finished Business, an 85-foot charter yacht converted from a naval patrol vessel built in 1947. And we brunched on salad, fruit, pastries, blintzes, quiches and a hearty egg and sausage casserole, prepared on board.

In  the spring, when the cherry trees are in blossom, the yacht offers afternoon tea cruises. It’s a smooth ride, no seasickness, no wobbly legs. We docked after two hours, and took a quick drive through Georgetown.

I was impressed by the large number of ethnic restaurants there—Ethiopian, Indian, Vietnamese, Japanese, Mexican and more—my kind of food.

Investigating these will take another trip. At this point, the only trip I had time for was a ride to the airport for my flight home.

TRAVEL INFORMATION

The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner, 1700 Tysons Blvd., McLean, VA., 22102. Tel: (703) 506-4300.

Tysons Galleria, 2001 International Dr.,  McLean, VA 22102. Tel: (703) 827-7700.

Pearmund Cellars Winery, 6190 Georgetown Road, Broad Run, VA 20137. Tel: (540) 347-3475

The Winery at La Grange, 4970 Antioch Road, Haymarket, VA 20169. Tel: (703) 753-9360.

Dante Ristorante, 1148 Walker Road, Great Falls, VA 22066. Tel: (703) 759-3131.

Vinifera Wine Bar & Bistro, Westin Reston Heights, 11750 Sunrise Valley Dr., Reston, VA 20191. Tel: (703) 391-9000.

Lebanese Taverna, 1840G  International Dr., McLean, VA 22102. Tel: (703) 847-5244

Wolf Trap (Ovations Restaurant), 1645 Trap Road, Vienna, VA 22182. Tel: (703) 255-1906.

Capital Yacht Charters (Finished Business), 1300 Maine Ave. Southwest, Washington, DC 20024. Tel: (202) 554-0677.

For more information on travel in Fairfax County, Virginia, go to  www.fxva.com.

THE PHOTOS

From the top, Dinner at Maestro in the Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner; Virginia wine grapes; tuna tartare and a Virginia ham sandwich at Vinifera Wine Bar & Bistro; afternoon Champagne, a sea scallop and pea ravioli plate and breakfast choices at the Ritz-Carlton; Chef Mohamad Abdallah of the Lebanese Taverna makes baklava; the taverna's stuffed grape leaves; diners at Wolf Trap; Ovations restaurant salmon; Finished Business charter yacht.