Patrick O’Connell has spent nearly five decades telling a story through food and hospitality. This month he tells it in his own words.
The chef and founder of The Inn at Little Washington publishes his first memoir, “Main, Middle & Gay”, on Sept. 15, and he’s marking it with three ticketed appearances across Virginia and Washington, D.C., between Sept. 13 and Sept. 18. All three are conversations rather than standard readings, and each pairs him with a familiar face from the region’s food world.
Wine country: Early Mountain Vineyards, Sunday, Sept. 13
The first of the three, a fireside interview and reception, is at Early Mountain Vineyards in Madison at 4 p.m., with NBC4 anchor Eun Yang leading the conversation.
The setting has a family connection: Early Mountain’s executive chef, Tim Moore, trained under O’Connell at the Inn. Tickets start at $95 and are booked through Tock.
Richmond: Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Wednesday, Sept. 16
The Virginia Museum of History & Culture hosts a launch evening at 428 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd., with Sietsema again in the interviewer’s chair.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with still and sparkling wine and truffled popcorn; the program starts at 6 p.m. Tickets are $45 for museum members and $55 for everyone else, and each one includes a signed copy of the memoir for pickup that night. The program is presented by the Virginia Tourism Corporation.
The closest stop: Lisner Auditorium, Friday, Sept. 18
The event O’Connell is calling a literary “coming out” party takes place at 6 p.m. at Lisner Auditorium in Foggy Bottom, a short trip across the river from Alexandria.
He’ll be joined onstage by chef José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen, and Tom Sietsema, the longtime former Washington Post restaurant critic. The Inn describes the evening as conversation, storytelling and theatrical touches tracing O’Connell’s path from a rented garage at the corner of Main, Middle and Gay streets to one of the most decorated restaurants in the country.
Tickets start at $45 through Ticketmaster and include a signed copy of the book, a box of the Inn’s truffle popcorn and champagne to drink during the program. The evening is co-presented by Politics & Prose and George Washington University.
About the book
“Main, Middle & Gay” takes its title from the three streets that meet in the Rappahannock County town where O’Connell opened his restaurant in a former garage in 1978. The Inn is now Michelin-starred and a Relais & Châteaux property, and O’Connell — a self-taught cook who has been called the pope of American cuisine — was tapped to cook for Queen Elizabeth II during her 2007 visit to Virginia.
The memoir covers considerably more than the restaurant. O’Connell writes about growing up gay in the 1950s, finding his footing among the misfits of mid-century kitchen work, living on farms with friends and teaching himself to cook while traveling through Europe, long before anyone imagined a rural Virginia garage would become a global dining destination.
Signed copies can also be preordered through Politics & Prose.
Sep. 06, 2026
12:48 p.m.
Dining and Cooking