Nearby

Nowadays, lots of GMU students run through Fairfax City, which explains why there is a surf shop and a bike shop next to buildings on the National Historic Register. The university is only a hop away. GMU’s Center for the Arts, which has a 1,600-seat auditorium, attracts a steady stream of top-rate acts—the upcoming schedule includes pianist Lang Lang, the George Winston “Winter” show and the Moscow Festival Ballet, among many others. It is the northern Virginia home of the Virginia Opera and was a central venue for the area’s weeklong Fall for the Book festival in September. Novelist E.L. Doctorow was the event’s highlight speaker.

Wolf Trap, up the road from Tysons Corner, remains the most appealing performing arts venue in the state with its impressive amphitheater, outdoor picnic seating and restaurant—and it’s not just a summer place. The cozy Barns at Wolf Trap host a variety of talented artists, in an intimate setting, during the winter. “The striking thing about Fairfax,” says Jo Orme­sher, who does marketing work for both Fairfax City and County, “is that we have a richness of the arts—and the whole region has a diversity that is impressive. There are a lot of nationalities here, and when they collide, don’t we all benefit?”

They do, and even in restaurants. Fairfax County’s dining scene cannot be compared to those of major cities, but as Mary Alexander, president of the chic 2941 Restaurant, points out, “it’s been growing. … I think people here enjoy trying new places. For so long, you had to go to D.C. Now, there are new places popping up in Fairfax—fine dining, casual, interesting cuisine from around the world.”

Certainly, 2941 remains a standard bearer on the gourmet side of the market. It has an odd location—it’s on the ground floor of an office building in Falls Church—but has been one of the best restaurants in Virginia since it opened eight years ago. Few places can match its stunning décor—which includes a 1912 oil painting by the Englishman Herbert James Draper (Clyties of the Mist); an 1886 sculpture by Rodin (The Burghers of Calais)—not completely original but made from the original mold used by Rodin; a painted pottery figure from China’s Tang Dynasty and a modern light form called Jellyfish, which was handmade in Italy and hangs from the ceiling. The restaurant’s owner, Rick Adams, owns most of the office space around the restaurant. “He’s very private, just a collector,” says Alexander.