The Homestead celebrates 250 years with culinary flair.
The Japanese Room at the Homestead, c. 1915.This area is now the Empire Room.
As part of a current year-long celebration of its 250th anniversary, the Omni Homestead Resort is treating guests to a blast from its culinary past. Every Saturday through December in the main dining room, a special prix fixe menu will be available that pays tribute to former Executive Chef Albert Schnarwyler’s 1989 Dining at The Homestead—a 585-page tome of more than 400 recipes from the Swiss-born and classically-trained chef who served the resort for 40 years.
First course offerings include baked Rappahannock oysters with crabmeat Grantinée Homestead, a perennial favorite, says current Executive Chef Greg Barnhill, who took the helm of its eight restaurants in 2013. The second course features roast chicken soup Virginia—a torchon of chicken breast pâté sliced into coins topped with roasted peanuts and cream of chicken soup. Headlining the three entrée selections is veal roulade stuffed with Roquefort and prosciutto and served with brioche spätzle, braised baby kale and walnut cream sauce. The menu will change seasonally.
“We’re lucky enough to have four culinarians who worked with Chef Schnarwyler still here,” says Barnhill. He and his staff reviewed the recipes, some of which were hand-written and found stashed in “honeycomb hideouts” throughout the 1902 building. “I’m hoping that for our longtime guests, it will bring back memories,” says Barnhill. “Some of them have told me they remember being excited about getting to go to the main dining room as kids.” The yearlong celebration includes a monthly speaker series, concerts, fireworks and more.
Says Barnhill, “Two-hundred fifty years, how many places can say that?” $75 per person, or $95 per person with wine pairings.
