Since Patrick O’Connell has been called the pope of new American cuisine, then I believe John Shields is food’s Saint Peter…
This weekend I had the ultimate pleasure of dining at Town House in Chilhowie, Virginia. This restaurant is owned by the Bishop Family, but all the culinary expertise is from the husband and wife team of John and Karen Urie Shields. Having worked previously for some of the better restaurants in Chicagoland, they now do multi-course menus in this extremely small town off I-81 in southwest Virginia.
I have to preface what I am about to say with a few things, so please indulge me my ability to say them. I know this review will be long to give the meal justice, so please excuse the overall length as well.
I’ve had the great fortune over my lifetime thus far to eat in some incredible restaurants. A good review shouldn’t require a pedigree of the reviewer, but I feel it’s necessary here. I’ve eaten the works of Keller, Boulud, & Robuchon. Cantu & Richard. I stood at the front door of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. One of the best meals I’ve had was at Chef Andrew Weissman’s Le rêve.
If you don’t read what I’ve written below, that’s fine. But you’ll thank me if you follow my advice. Go to Chilhowie and book a table at Town House. It was by far the best meal I’ve ever had in my entire life. It was brilliant. Unbelievable. A true sensation.
This is a brand of molecular gastronomy which makes the meal less about science and wonder and more about the pursuit of the best possible combinations of flavors and textures. They offer à la carte dining in addition to two tasting menus. This is what we had. The numbers in parenthesis refer to the picture numbers below.
Amuses
- Olive Cookie (1)
- Pork Belly Taco (2)
- Crab Chips (3)
Courses
- Chilled Vegetable Minestrone
- Brûlée of Smoked Salmon Roe (4)
- The Orange from Valencia (5)
- Cardamom Scented Squab & Duck (6)
- Scrambled Egg Mousse (7)
- Chorizo Bouillon (9)
- Cured Hamachi & Bev Eggleston’s Pig Tail (10)
- Thorntree Farms Lamb Cooked in Ash (11)
Intermezzo
- Pepper Potato Bread with EVOO (8)
Desserts
- Covered in Snow… Foggy Ridge’s Pippin Apple (12)
- Purple Mountains (Majesty) (13)
Finale
First, Chilhowie is not much of a town: it’s small and it baffles the mind as to why this place is where it is. But don’t let that stop you from paying a visit. The restaurant now runs its own small B&B, and you can find posh accommodations in nearby Abingdon or Marion, both along I-81.
The dining room is small, but features good lighting that other restaurants often eschew in place of making you guess what’s been set down on the table. All the waitstaff were friendly, but their wine guy seemed to be the most knowledgeable and often the one explaining each of our many courses. The atmosphere is somewhat casual and chic, but simple too.
I added a wine pairing option to my menu, and each of the wines were very well paired to each course. My memory doesn’t serve me well enough to go into detail, but the wines came from all over the world: Spain, Virginia, France, etc. They also offer a premium selection of wines at a $15 markup.
While service was great, I’ve actually had more “professional” service elsewhere. But where at some places fine service raises the stuffiness level, here, things were relaxed and the opposite of stuffy. This is not a place where a suit is required for gents, so I found the whole experience here relaxed and enjoyable. They asked us where we were from, and chef John Shields said hello to us before we left, noting our city of origin. Chilhowie is a small place that likely never gets too fussy. In the same positive way, Town House is very similar.
So what made this the best meal I’ve ever eaten?
We started with amuses that did just that: they amused us both with taste and intellect. Those little mini tacos were so cute, and incredibly tasty. I could have eaten a dozen.
The first course was from the book of Charlie Trotter: a cold “minestrone.” Little “pastas” of pure vegetables stood at attention on the plate, while the waiter poured this magic clear vegetable broth into our bowls. What a refreshing dish. It was simple, but elegant and the intense flavor from each vegetable was carrying its essence. The broth had a sweetness to it and was truly an experience. It was exquisite, deserving the label “magic.”
My favorite course of the evening came next, served in a round bowl that came with a clear disc on top, studded with seeds. The unlikely combination of flavors was a brilliant expression that was at once other-worldly and rare. Chefs Shields combine coconut, mustard, avocado, banana, celery and cilantro with salty salmon eggs beneath a sweet “crust” or “brûlée.” Again, if you tripled it I could have eaten it over and over again, it was spectacular.
The next course was a puzzle. Entitled “The Orange from Valencia,” it was an interesting expression of bitter and sweet. Inside were two plump, flavorful mussels. I can’t begin to name everything else inside, but the shell of the orange had been treated with liquid nitrogen and the leaves were edible hyssop.
My gracious companion’s favorite dish was our next course, served beneath a foamy topping. It combined duck and squab with pear, passion fruit seeds, a funky rendition of broccoli, and stilton-poached wine. This was most delicious. At this point I wondered where things would turn foul. Nothing yet failed to impress or delight us.
The next course was an egg course; birch syrup combined with spices and salty chives to make an incredible combination of flavors. “Yummo!” might shout TV personality Rachael Ray. It was superb. The wine pairing was great too, an aged Madeira.
We next got a repose with the service of two outstanding, warm peppery potato-bread rolls. They serve some delicious EVOO in a little mini-pitcher.
The next dish took us to Spain, and was all about “Chorizo” without the said sausage. Mini pillows of manchego cheese filled our soup bowls along with a large globule of cuddlefish ink. This was a thin “bouillon,” but was absolutely filled with rich flavors. We indeed visited Spain.
Probably my third favorite course was our next: Cured Hamachi and Bev Eggleston’s Pig Tail although our waiter more appropriately called it a still life of the ocean floor. In addition to a pickled oyster, it came with a broth pouring, various seaweeds, and a crunchy/chewy piece of pork. This was imaginative and thoroughly delicious and exciting. Wow. The melding of diversity was spot-on delicious, and this one came with a dual pairing of wine: both sake and a Riesling were served and both played roles at accentuating the myriad flavors.
The next course was my least favorite, but that’s not to say it was bad. If this was the worst, then that’s saying a lot about the high level of everything else. This is chef Shields’ famous lamb course, which for us included the lamb’s heart. I confess I didn’t eat the entirety of the heart, as I’m not the world’s biggest enthusiast of offal. Nevertheless, the textures and flavors here were rich and deep, combining burnt leek, cherries, the leather of fruit, and the wine — a Bandol — was a superb and equal match to all of those flavors. This dish exemplified why the Shields not only know how to perform some funky treatments to food, but are masters at combining different flavors to exquisite new heights.
The dessert courses were no less impressive here. The winner, however, and #2 in my lineup of the best of the evening was the “Covered in Snow” dessert that combined salty strong herbs with peanut, chocolate mousse, and an incredible apple cider augmented with brandy. That beverage comes from “Foggy Ridge,” and our waiter told us the source was only about “an hour away.” The next day we paid them a visit and picked up some of their amazing product which is made from over 30 heirloom apple varieties.
The final dessert was neat: concord grape, black sesame, greek yogurt, and anise seed all came together to make “purple mountains.” A nice accent in this dish was the meyer lemon rind.
Over coffee, I saw a placement of two small chocolate truffles come to the table, and at that point, I was full and didn’t want another bite. “Ah… typical, little chocolate truffles…”
It was only after the waiter told us they were EVOO chocolate truffles that I became intrigued. As you pop one in your mouth, they almost immediately melt, and the marriage of deep cocoa notes, sweetness, and sublime flavor of good extra virgin oil impregnates your mouth with a lasting bemusement. What an incredible way to finish a stellar meal.
I realize molecular gastronomy isn’t everyone’s thing. But I think Chefs Shields do it an extreme justice and make the most satisfying food. Of course, I recommend it. The meal was a 10 on the awesome scale. Visit their website online and enjoy. If you’re more interested in the chef’s approach to their dishes, they do their work justice with a picture blog.
