Fourth-generation chef Alain Borel and his wife, Celeste, have brought the romance, personal touches, and fine dining of a French country inn to tiny White Post, an hour and a half west of the Beltway. This 1753 stone house is set on 8½ acres and is surrounded by rolling pastureland. Inside are the Borels’ special accents: Alain’s great-grandmother’s copper pots in the dining room, provincial prints in the guest rooms, whimsical carved carousel animals, painted tiles, and art by Picasso, Buffet, and Duly.
Don’t fill up on the plate of fresh fruit, chocolate, and homemade cookies that welcomes you to your room; instead, save your appetite for the five-course prix-fixe dinner ($57). The menu changes monthly to take advantage of seasonal produce. In spring, it may include La Truite Shenandoa—Shenandoah mountam trout with sesame seed batter, fresh local Blue Ridge Morel mushrooms, tomato concasse, and tarragon. Celeste, who handles the wine, has assembled a 250-selection list, plus the captain’s list, with rare vintages for the connoisseur. Breakfast in the sunny, bay-windowed, peach-colored dining room starts with a mix oftangerine and orange juice and is followed by such delicacies as fresh fruit, rich croissants, poached egg in phyllo cups, applewood smoked bacon, and house-cured smoked salmon.
If you ask, a bit of Borel magic can accompany you in the form ofa picnic basket (tablecloth, fruit, cheese, sandwiches, salads, chocolates, and wine) to be savored in some nook along Skyline Drive or at one of the local wineries. Alain’s particularity extends to his gardens, where he fusses over herbs and vegetables grown from seeds imported from France or one of the 54 fruit trees, including such exotics as Asian pears, per-simmons, and kiwis.
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