Photo courtesy of Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon gala set for Sept. 17.
The Inn at Little Washington, one of the world's most award-winning restaurants, located in Washington, Va., is teaming up with Mount Vernon for a black-tie fundraising gala dinner on the lawn at Mount Vernon to help restore the Washington's historic kitchen.
The festivities are set for Saturday, Sept. 17 from 6-10 p.m. and tickets, starting at $1,000 each, are now on sale. Sponsorships are also available.
Patrick O'Connell, a Michelin Three-Star chef and the owner of the Inn at Little Washington, will incorporate fruit, vegetables and herbs fresh from the gardens at Mount Vernon into the evening's dinner.
The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, the Life Guard Society of Historic Mount Vernon and The Inn at Little Washington are organizing the special gala evening in support of the restoration of the historic kitchen at Mount Vernon.
The Inn at Little Washington
Chef Patrick O'Connell
The evening will include:
• Al fresco cocktails and dinner designed by O’Connell of the Inn at Little Washington
• Seated dinner on the east lawn overlooking the Potomac
• Dessert and after-dinner drinks mix and mingle with fireworks
• After-hours tours of the Mansion
• Event proceeds support a curatorial restoration of the historic kitchen at Mount Vernon
• Black Tie | Complimentary Valet Parking
Here's more about the kitchen, from Mount Vernon:
Everyone who visits the Mansion at Mount Vernon exits via the historic kitchen, presenting an opportunity to transport visitors back to the Washingtons’ day by showing the kitchen as a bustling hub of activity. New research on the contents and use of the space will inform a significant curatorial restoration that will better educate visitors on 18th-century foodways.
By stocking the kitchen with historically accurate cooking and storage equipment, installing engaging scenarios of faux-food and meals at different stages of preparation, and providing details on the enslaved laborers who made and served the Washingtons’ meals, the restoration project will heighten visitors’ understanding of the kitchen as one of the most important spaces at Mount Vernon, both functionally and socially.
Mount Vernon had so many visitors that George Washington once compared his home to “a well resorted tavern.” Feeding the Washington family and their guests was a herculean task assigned in 1799 to enslaved cooks Lucy Lee and Nathan. The detached kitchen building served as the hub of their operation. There, the talented cooks transformed food from the estate’s gardens and pastures—as well as imported ingredients from across the world—into elaborate three-course dinners. Enslaved waiters in white-and-red livery suits carried the dishes through the south colonnade into the butler’s pantry and then the dining room, where visitors enjoyed boiled meats, seasonal vegetables, mince pies, and other 18th-century delicacies.
Today, Mount Vernon curatorial staff seeks to transport visitors back to the Washingtons’ day by presenting the kitchen as a bustling hub of activity. This refurnishing project will stock the space with historically-accurate cooking and storage equipment, install engaging scenarios of faux-food and meals at different stages of preparation, and provide additional information on the enslaved laborers who made and served the Washingtons’ meals.
Tickets are on sale now. Space is limited.
