Last week members of the Roanoke Fine Wine society took a field trip to the Town House, a forty seat restaurant in Chilhowie, Virginia which has carved out a niche in the destination dining corridor between Bristol, Tennessee and Roanoke,Virgina thanks to a generous helping of good press from Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and Wine Spectator.
With easy access from Interstate 81, chefs Karen Urie Shields and John B. Shields, a 2010 Food & Wine Best New Chef, are luring foodies and wine lovers to this tiny town (pop. 1,800) to enjoy their exquisite and creative offerings, including a rib-eye of beef cooked in ash and dressed with bonito flakes and a parchment of black garlic, and an egg mousse with steelhead roe which had David Tenzer, a onetime food writer for the Roanoke Times, quivering with delight.
Our group of ten was presented with a special menu of four courses, with wine pairings chosen by sommelier Charlie Berg. At first sip we questioned his choice of the NV Emilio Lustau “Jarama” fino sherry, but when tasted with the paired appetizer of Peekytoe crab meat roasted in brown butter with lime and salt cod we ate our words.
The presentation was sparse but beautiful and the ingredients for the entrée selections were sourced from the finest regional providers. I doubted that any morsel on our plates had seen the inside of a freezer but where Karen and John Shields really distinguished themselves was in the small but thoughtful selection of desserts. Who would have dared pair powdered chocolates with a “salad” of local herbs? A mad genius, that’s who! But I tell you, it works!
Town House
132 E. Main Street
Chilhowie, Virginia 24319
276.646.8787
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