Trummer’s on Main brings warmth and elegance to the pastoral and historic town of Clifton.
New Zealand venison with coffee roasted carrots and farro.
Photos by Franz Mahr
A variety of table-grilled “snacks” from the Mercy of the Chef tasting menu.
Photos by Franz Mahr
Trio of sorbets: orange vanilla, Concord grape, and apple cider.
Photos by Franz Mahr
Stefan and Victoria Trummer.
Photos by Franz Mahr
Trummer’s Winter Garden dining room.
Photos by Thomas Schauer
The Trummer’s staff.
Photos by Franz Mahr
On a cool fall evening, my husband and I visited Trummer’s on Main—located in a charming 19th-century building in Clifton—to celebrate our wedding anniversary. It was a weeknight, and we felt stressed out and busy, but we wanted to mark the milestone. We mentioned our anniversary to our host as she led us into the Winter Garden, one of several dining rooms Trummer’s offers in its three spacious floors.
Not long after we sat down, two flutes of sparkling Spanish Cava appeared at our table, courtesy of the restaurant, alongside a pan of freshly baked cornbread. We ordered a mushroom tarte tatin as our first course, letting the light pastry topped with maitake mushrooms melt on our tongues. As we toasted each other, Southern-style palm-leaf fans twirled above us near the room’s high ceilings, and we felt the stress melt away.
This is exactly the atmosphere that Stefan and Victoria Trummer were aiming for when they opened the restaurant in summer 2009—relaxed and sophisticated, but also familial and fun. Victoria grew up in Clifton, but left home to work in New York City’s fast-paced restaurant scene. It was at the city’s Citarella restaurant that she met Stefan, a native of Austria who had traveled Europe and also worked in several restaurants in New York. In addition to honing his business experience, Stefan made a name for himself as a creative mixologist, which earned him a spot on Beverage Media’s list of “Top 10 Bar Chefs to Watch” in 2007.
Once Stefan and Victoria married, the idea of coming home loomed larger. Eventually, they opened Trummer’s in a vacant historic building and brought an upscale, locally owned, food-forward feel to the town. “When we opened, we wanted to bring a little New York City to Clifton,” Victoria says. “It was always going to be a chef-driven restaurant.”
Over time, Victoria adds, the restaurant became more about celebrating the best that Virginia has to offer—access to local farms and produce, an increasingly savvy, adventurous, and loyal food clientele, and a climate with four distinct seasons to drive the menu, which changes daily. Today, the kitchen is led by executive chef Jon Cropf, who came to Trummer’s from Charleston, South Carolina, where he had developed a reputation for seasonal food. “We were looking for someone who felt like family,” Stefan says. “We appreciated his creativity.”
Cropf’s menus are always balanced between a range of meat and vegetarian options. A recent dinner menu included a “whole hog” option with rotating cuts served as either a small or large plate, a dry-aged duck with quinoa, and a venison tenderloin with a savory and rich pain perdu and espresso jus. The restaurant also offers bar and patio menus with elegant-but-casual fare, such as a burger with Thousand Island dressing and popcorn dressed with truffle oil. The Trummer’s Sunday brunch runs the gamut from sweets, such as cinnamon-sugar beignets and a hazelnut-chocolate pancake, to a savory short-rib omelet with mac and cheese or shrimp and grits with tasso ham and a lobster cream sauce.
The night my husband and I dined at Trummer’s, fall was in the air and on the plate. As a starter to go with our tarte tatin, my husband and I shared a smoky Manhattan that brought a campfire taste to our elegant table. For our entrées, I had a crisped corvina topped with lump crab on a bed of black rice, punctuated with hunks of decadent lardo. My husband went the comfort-food route, ordering the pillowy gnocchi with various preparations of fall squash and studded with hazelnuts. On the side, we ordered a bowl of roasted Brussels sprouts tossed in a kimchi mayo that provided just the right amount of heat to our autumnal meal. For dessert, we split a rectangle of chocolate-banana mouse with banana-brown sugar ice cream and smoked pecans.
In addition to the standalone options, one of the most popular choices at Trummer’s is the five- or six-course “Mercy of the Chef” tasting menu, which can be joined by a wine pairing. A recent spring tasting menu included gazpacho with cucumber relish and a South Carolina poussin with grits. “It’s nice when you don’t have to limit yourself,” Cropf says, adding that he enjoys collaborating with pastry chef Meagan Tighe, sommelier Nicole Bernard, and the rest of the team. “I have that freedom to adapt to what’s available and to explore new ideas.” Trummer’s also regularly hosts weddings, wine dinners, and other special events, including the annual “Trummer Fest,” with an oompah band that honors Stefan’s homeland.
Looking ahead to its 10th anniversary, Victoria says the restaurant will keep evolving. “We’re proud of where we’ve come from and where we’re going,” she says. “When we try something new, I tell people to trust us, and they do.” TrummersOnMain.com
This article originally appeared in our February 2019 issue.
