Live-fire, hyperlocal 5-course tasting menu at Sumac in Sperryville!

Join us for a meal with Inn at Little Washington alum, Chef Dan Gleason, at his highly-rated farm-to-table food truck, Sumac in Sperryville, VA, praised for its creative, refined, wood-fired dishes, hyper-local ingredients, and beautiful setting at Pen Druid Brewery. The stunning views, tasting menu, and quality of the food, comparable to high-end restaurants despite the rustic, casual environment are worth the drive! The menu changes seasonally and features dishes with locally sourced ingredients within a 150-mile radius.

Washington Post:
Never mind that he cooks in what used to be a cattle trailer — basically outside — where winter can be freezing and summer is broiling-don’t-you-know. Dan Gleason says no other kitchen competes with his screened-in food truck at Sumac in Sperryville, Virginia — not even the gleaming beauty at his onetime employer, The Inn at Little Washington.

“Being in the kitchen and feeling a breeze is incredible,” says Gleason, who co-owns the operation with his wife and hospitality director, Abigail.

Five years ago this September, the owners of Pen Druid Brewing asked Gleason if he’d be interested in putting a food truck on the grounds of their 27-acre site. He and Abigail responded with a pop-up showcasing an upscale menu using mostly ingredients from the Piedmont region of Virginia, including sumac, a plant that grows widely in the area. (The fascination goes way back. Gleason, who grew up in Rockville and has cooked for 20 years, remembers making tea from the berries when he was in fourth grade.) “Place” has always inspired the couple, says the chef, who cooks much of what is served at Sumac over live fire. A big slab of oak, burned with the letters of the restaurant’s name, welcomes customers to the couple’s charming, shabby-chic venue.

Having booked Sumac’s five-course tasting menu option, two of us check in at a host lectern fashioned from apple logs, cedar planks and an aluminum roof. There are multiple seating options: a nearby picnic table on the grass and a shaded perch near the entrance of the brewery, both dog-friendly, or inside Pen Druid, where you can buy beer, cider or wine and help yourself to water. “Sit where you like,” says the ticket taker, who turns out to be the chef. “We’ll find you.” (
*Note: No worries about inclement weather - there are plenty of seating options.*

A few minutes later, the first course is brought out. It’s a bison tartare, seasoned with a paste of fermented plums and perilla leaf (wild shiso) and offered with bao buns. The meat is lush and better for the Lilliputian pickled chanterelles that garnish it. We smile as we sink our teeth into the shiny bread but set it aside after an exploratory bite. The bun, alas, is gummy. (*Note - this review was written in the hot, humid VA summer)

We almost forget about the slip when the tomato “steak” comes out. The second course turns out to be a single sliced tomato draped with a loose custard of cream, egg yolks and corn, then finished with a few slivers of onion and a pinch of mustard seeds. The tomato tastes as if it had just been plucked from the vine; the cloud on top tastes like corn crossed with silk. The coupling is a midsummer night’s dream. On its heels come a rainbow coalition of diced beets scattered with savory granola, made with wild juniper on my visit, and splayed on a fluff of tangy goat cheese. The mousse is ringed in a shimmering green oil coaxed from chive and dill. We sop up traces of all the goodness on our compostable plates with a nice surprise: warm focaccia to make up for the underbaked bun.

Everyone makes mistakes. Sumac shows how to recover from one, quickly.

Cubes of loin meat, charred over the wood fire that touches much of the food at Sumac, are finished as if they were about to be presented at some Michelin-starred establishment. Slivers of apricot drape over the juicy pork, which is seasoned with fennel blossom and set over apricot soup striped with tangy yogurt. A bite of pork, a sip of soup — the duo goes down like summer camp for adults when it’s washed back with a brew made with native yeast and cooked over a wood fire. Finer still is the skewered cabbage, a meatless marvel of many-layered cabbage braised in charred onion butter, brushed with a shrimp butter and made more exciting with a carpet of chopped oyster mushrooms. Even people who say they don’t like the vegetable become converts after trying this sermon.

Sumac is an equal opportunity feeder, by the way. The kitchen always offers a few a la carte vegan options.

This being July, peaches are poached in brandy and sunk into a soft pillow of ricotta sweetened with almond, and blueberries bestow their color on a refreshing sorbet paired with sparkling basil granita.

Except for seafood and a few pantry staples including olive oil, much of what Gleason and team use is procured from within 150 miles of where they cook. Lemons have no home here, a role filled by native sumac. There’s no soy sauce, either. For umami, Gleason makes his own malt vinegar from black walnuts. Buying local isn’t as simple as it sounds, says Gleason, who points to this year’s “terrible” and “short” apricot season, the result of a punishing frost.

NOTE: To book this experience, the dinner was paid in advance (including 20% service fee). If you register for this event and are unable to attend, we will try to help fill your seat. Refunds can only be issued if your seat is able to be filled. Thank you in advance for your understanding.

TRANSPORTATION: Transportation to / from Alexandria, VA is being coordinated for those who do not wish to drive. We'll share the cost once arrangements have been made with any who want to join.

WAITLIST:
Meetup does not allow a waitlist for paid events. If this event fills and you are interested in adding your name to the waitlist, please send host a message through the app.

Looking forward to sharing this experience with you!

Sample Tasting meny here

We ask that ALL folks honor their RSVP. If you are unable to attend after sending in a YES, please update your status so that others may join. In the event our group incurs a fee for no-shows / late cancellations, your ability to RSVP for future events will be restricted. Thank you in advance for your understanding.

In the future, we will vary the days of the week and the types of restaurants so that we can attract many different types of diners. Feel free to make suggestions for future meet locations.

If you are unable to join us in November we hope you'll stay interested and join us for a meal in the future. Looking forward to catching up with you for teh tasting menu at Sumac!