{"id":8224,"date":"2026-09-25T15:49:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T15:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/8224\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T15:49:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T15:49:34","slug":"famed-rappahannock-chef-patrick-oconnell-finds-where-he-bel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/8224\/","title":{"rendered":"Famed Rappahannock Chef Patrick O\u2019Connell finds where he bel&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-wisiwig-body1=\"true\" class=\"txtStyle_body1 mb_$body1\">And yet, \u201cBeing an outcast brought a new sense of freedom. I no longer had to care what anyone thought,\u201d he writes. <\/p>\n<p data-wisiwig-body1=\"true\" class=\"txtStyle_body1 mb_$body1\">Later in life, when he and his partner opened The Inn at Little Washington in 1978, he faced the antagonism of many in the town, especially the establishment types who cherished their small town, hated the idea of change and were not ready for the world of Patrick O\u2019Connell.<\/p>\n<p data-wisiwig-body1=\"true\" class=\"txtStyle_body1 mb_$body1\">They were not ready for the instant success of the restaurant, which drew the most positive reviews from critics \u2013 first in Washington and then New York. <\/p>\n<p data-wisiwig-body1=\"true\" class=\"txtStyle_body1 mb_$body1\">And of course, there was the oft-spoken front and center element of O\u2019Connell being gay. During the AIDS crisis, some warned the residents of Rappahannock County that eating at the inn could well be detrimental to their health. <\/p>\n<p data-wisiwig-body1=\"true\" class=\"txtStyle_body1 mb_$body1\">Yet O\u2019Connell persevered with his obsession to replicate the Michelin Star restaurants in small villages in France he often visited. Why not become the center of the food universe? Make them come to him. <\/p>\n<p data-wisiwig-body1=\"true\" class=\"txtStyle_body1 mb_$body1\">And so they did. The famous: Barbara Streisand, Warren Beatty, Mark Russell, Julia Child, Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Anthony Scalia and Vice Presidents Al Gore and J.D. Vance. O\u2019Connell even cooked a special meal for the Queen of England.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Patrick O'Connell serves his friend, mentor and inspiration, Julia Child, at The Inn at Little Washington.\" aria-hidden=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1277\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"max-w_$full max-h_[50vh] obj-fit_contain d_block mx_[auto]\" style=\"color:transparent\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/asset_72c61541-66a1-4fa6-a95f-c48a64dbcdfe.jpg\"\/>Patrick O&#8217;Connell serves his friend, mentor and inspiration, Julia Child, at The Inn at Little Washington.The Inn at Little Washington<\/p>\n<p data-wisiwig-body1=\"true\" class=\"txtStyle_body1 mb_$body1\">This book will appeal to many audiences. Celebrants of weddings, birthdays and anniversaries who want to relive their magical moments at the inn will devour every word.<\/p>\n<p data-wisiwig-body1=\"true\" class=\"txtStyle_body1 mb_$body1\">The foodie crowd will delight in his stories about the long road to receiving Michelin Star recognition. <\/p>\n<p data-wisiwig-body1=\"true\" class=\"txtStyle_body1 mb_$body1\">For many readers, the most interesting chapters in the book shed light on the 20-plus year relationship between O\u2019Connell and his business and life partner. O\u2019Connell details the slow collapse of their relationship and then the bitter multiyear disengagement of their separation. <\/p>\n<p data-wisiwig-body1=\"true\" class=\"txtStyle_body1 mb_$body1\">O\u2019Connoll\u2019s life story is uplifting. He has found his place \u2013 The Inn at Little Washington and the town of Washington \u2013 where nearly five decades of his life have been spent at Main, Middle &amp; Gay. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>And yet, \u201cBeing an outcast brought a new sense of freedom. I no longer had to care what anyone thought,\u201d he writes. Later in life, when he and his partner opened The Inn at Little Washington in 1978, he faced the antagonism of many in the town, especially the establishment types who cherished their small<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,5],"class_list":["post-8224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chefs","tag-business","tag-chef"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dnc\/117332473501696211","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/chefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}