Nearby

Alexander calls 2941 executive chef Bertrand Chemel a “rock star.” Food critics laud his dishes for blending fresh ingredients with French and Asian flair. Prior to joining 2941, Chemel was the Chef de Cuisine at Café Boulud in New York City. I had a tasting meal featuring fois gras with lobster broth and summer truffle as a starter; pan-roasted Madai snapper, handmade potato gnocchi, cilantro-crusted lamb loin, concord grape sorbet (with candied walnuts and fresh goat cheese cremeux) and caramel poached pear (over sourdough flapjacks). Chemel told me that regulars are always asking him not to change the menu—“but for us it’s important to change with the seasons. I find it exciting.”

Restaurant 2941’s original chef, Jonathan Krinn, has joined with fellow chef Jon Mathieson to open Inox, in Tysons Corner, right next to the Ritz-Carlton. Critics from the Washington Post and other D.C. publications have given it favorable reviews. Krinn’s father, ophthalmologist Mal Krinn, made a name for himself baking bread at 2941, and he is doing the same at his son’s new enterprise.

The term “old Fairfax” is virtually an oxymoron—but there is still a vestige or two around. The Italian restaurant Da Demenico sits in a low-slung white building that’s nearly dwarfed by office buildings in Tysons Corner, but it’s a favorite with older county residents who appreciate its old-school interior—heavy gold drapes, brocade-patterned wallpaper, clamshell booths—and classic food. Veal chops are the specialty, the portions are big, and an entertainer strolls through the restaurant singing Italian arias. As one customer wrote, approvingly, in an Web review, “If I had a wealthy, Italian grandmother with eclectic tastes, this would be her dining room.”

Not more than 15 minutes from bustling Fairfax City is the little throwback town of Clifton. It looks and feels 19th-century, with period houses and a country store. The one exception to the quaintness is Trummer’s on Main—a dapple of sophistication on an erstwhile horse-and-carriage street. Stefan and Victoria Trummer opened the restaurant—after renovating the 1869 building that was the Clifton hotel—this summer, with three floors decorated in warm reds, oranges and soft creams. The first-floor bar has a honey-colored onyx bar top; the second floor has two fireplaces and a cozy “winter garden” dining room. The Trummers—he is Austrian, she a Clifton native—spent several years in the restaurant business in New York City before hanging their shingle in Fairfax.

To an extent, Clifton and the Trummers exemplify the yin and yang of Fairfax County. It’s got a smart, cosmopolitan population and a rich culture, to be sure—but amid the hurly-burly, pockets of old Virginia remain and even thrive. As Connie Hutchinson, in Herndon, says, “We’re urban, yet you can still find classic Virginia hospitality.”

Gordon, head of the Economic Development Authority, adds, “We’re going to keep growing. The challenge will be to maintain all the best things about urbanization—great public schools and enormous diversity—and manage the rest.”

So far, so good.

Thanks to the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner and the Hyatt Reston for their hospitality.

The models in the opening photo are Andrea Heininge and Rebecca Sly, courtesy of the Reston Community Players. Clothing courtesy of Talbots. Hair/makeup/wardrobe styling by Meredith Ehler.