Garden Bistro

Garden Bistro Restaurant Review:

One of Northern Virginia’s least known but most bucolic destinations is the 1,200-acre Airlie in Warrenton. Since its opening in the mid-1950s, it was used primarily as a “think tank” site for conferences and retreats. Today, all are welcome to spend the night and/or eat in one of its dining areas. Of these, the compact Garden Bistro, overlooking woods and lawns behind the main building, has a weekly changing menu that includes produce and herbs from Airlie’s gardens plus locally raised meats and poultry. In a way, Airlie’s chefs use this bistro menu to create such unusual dishes as pan-roasted squab, apple-glazed local pork belly, and chocolate ganache cake with lavender meringue. If you are fortunate, you may even have a selection of house-made gelato that might include the tongue-biting chili and the cooling mint flavors. Ask to see the wine list. The main dining room does not serve if there are no groups; however, the Whistling Swan Pub is open if the Garden Bistro is full.