The Town House

 It was on my flight home-ish from Iowa last week that I flipped open Hemispheres magazine to find this article.
   
It's about The Town House in Chilhowie, VA.  I had a gig down in Abingdon just a year ago last week, and I stumbled upon this place when looking for an inspiring meal.  This place certainly surpassed my expectations.  Chefs John Shields (former sous chef at Charlie Trotter's and Alinea, in Chicago) and Karen Urie (former head pastry chef at Charlie Trotter's) hadn't yet gotten married, and were doing truly brilliant things with very local, very seasonal ingredients, hours away from any major metropolitan center.

I had the unique honor of introducing one of my colleagues to nouvelle cuisine.  In honor of this anniversary that United Airlines' inflight magazine decided to celebrate for me, I'll include my meal synopsis behind the cut.  At the time I wrote this, I didn't realize that John Shields was probably the sous chef for the meal I had shared with family and friends at Alinea earlier in the year...

( A meal at The Town House )