Comfort food in an old grocery store

After thirty years in the magazine and newspaper world, most notably an award-winning tenure at The Washington Post, and Preservation and Smithsonian magazines, I was itching for a change. I enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America (the other CIA) in New York, was trained by two former White House pastry chefs at L’Academie de Cuisine outside of D.C., took courses at King Arthur Baking in Vermont, and hightailed it to a former convent in Oaxaca, Mexico, for local culinary training with chef Rick Bayless, owner of Chicago’s Frontera Grill and Topolobampo. I left publishing to launch my Red Truck Bakery in rural Virginia with just three employees, and, over fifteen years, grew it into two locations with a staff of sixty shipping thousands of cakes and other items across the country each year. It brought new life and love to a sleepy Main Street, and I received Presidential accolades for my pies and my hard-won success.  

We’re as happy as a dog with two tails to be living in the village of Little Washington—officially known as Washington, Virginia (pop. 88)—purportedly surveyed and laid out by a 17-year-old George Washington in 1749, near the Blue Ridge mountains and Shenandoah National Park. We reside just around the corner from the revered Inn at Little Washington where we dine on special occasions, and you’ll find us every few days at the Inn’s superb Patty O’s Café across the street. Sometimes, though, we just want a quick bite with our pals: a sausage biscuit for breakfast, homemade soup and a sandwich for lunch, and for dinner maybe a bourbon & ginger with a bowl of chili, cornbread, and apple pie for dessert. Four months after moving to town for what I expected was the start of my retirement, I pondered the possibilities of a long-shuttered café, in a former grocery store, four blocks from our home. 

So, behold my new Hayfields in Little Washington, a market and café, named after the huge round hay bales and golden fields surrounding the village we call home. I like to tout our Hayfields biscuits, vittles, and whiskey, although the store will be much more: a unique market carrying local and national products, and a counter-service café where you can order at the register and your meal will be brought to you in our dining room, our bar area, or on the spacious patio outside. Run in and run out, if you’d like: we’ll be serving up grab-and-go sandwiches (we will also be offering online ordering for pickup orders), as well as sit-and-stay meals made for you. Then there’s our full-service bar and neighborhood joint, The Last Straw, separate from the market, that the townsfolk made me promise to keep. I’m glad we did. No dining reservations are needed, unless you’re headed our way with a big group. Stop in and say howdy to the gang, and save room for pie.

Hayfields is getting ready for you, and we’ll be opening later this summer. Sign up for updates here, and follow our progress on Instagram @hayfieldslittlewashington