(uplifting music) >>I remember one time I arrived there, and every station in the kitchen, there were maybe six violinists.

(enthusiastic string music) I was like, "Oh, this is too much."

(Daniel laughing) This is so Patrick.

You think it's nuts, but it works so well.

>>The Inn at Little Washington is one of the most wonderful restaurants and hotels in the world, period.

>>He just fluffs the drape here or he flips the ravioli over there, like there's just all these little minute details that I only see chef do.

>>Cooking is a performance.

I never anticipated any kind of political storm.

It just happened that way.

The Inn was a disruptor.

(light music) Are we gonna talk for an hour?

Mother of God!

All right, geez, I thought I had to do soundbites.

I'm fine.

I'm just finding dust in the room.

Bob, this mantle is a mess.

Oh, my God, don't even get me started.

(dramatic music) Is Andre still there in the wings?

Andre, how long are you letting me go without a bite to eat?

Not even a banana.

Yeah, sure, can you open it?

>>Yeah, yeah.

>>Not that I'm helpless.

(Patrick laughing) (intriguing music) I love rutabaga.

Ah, have you made it into a puree yet?

Peel it real quick, chop it up, throw it in a pot, and boil it.

And then take it out when it's tender, throw it in the blender, add a little bit of butter and some splash of cream, whip it up, some salt, pepper, pinch of sugar, and then half a drop of maple syrup, and then you'll just swoon.

(Patrick laughing) (light music) I always believed, and still do, that humans are very dangerous creatures.

So if you keep them well-fed, they're far less dangerous.

It sounds harsh, but I don't regard it that way at all.

They enjoy being fed (laughs).

(light music) >>The Inn at Little Washington is a double five star, double five diamond hotel.

And then we have the Wine Spectator Grand Award, five James Beard Awards, two Michelin stars, Relais & Chateaux.

(bright orchestral music) It's this little bit of luxury in the tiny town, 70 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., right in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

We have a very different approach to service.

>>We have 15 rooms, 33 house guests, 91 guests all day, five stay-overs, 17 anniversaries, 17 birthdays, 25 tables in the firth.

(enthusiastic music) >>You create some drama by doing the impossible.

>>Please, be ready at 5:30.

Yes?

>>Yes, chef.

>>So for example, we have a couple that comes out from the West Coast two or three times a year.

Three days before New Year's Eve, he wanted a camel.

And we found a camel.

Her name was Delilah, and she was gorgeous.

(guests chattering) (upbeat music) It is a level of experience that is unique in the world.

(upbeat music) (guests chattering) >>Anything we do has to be extraordinary.

I mean, that's the standard to which I hold myself.

Don't move the popcorn.

If you lift it, set it to the side.

>>Okay.

>>Put this down, yeah.

>>I can do that.

>>Okay, good, thank you.

(upbeat music) It's either art or garbage.

There's nothing in between.

We can't have it close.

It doesn't work that way.

>>This place is a set and there's a play going on 24 hours a day.

>>And you quickly realize you're a character in the play.

(mechanical cow mooing) >>The sense of humor is so deeply ingrained here.

>>Cowabunga.

Meals on wheels.

>>There's a level of professionalism.

>>So, this is Farah.

These are Farah's faucets at the bottom.

>>Then there's a line you don't cross.

>>We figured we'd just milk it for all it's worth (chuckles).

>>But it can't be stuffy.

>>And I always point out that we do have a dress code, and that is no wet bikinis.

I have no problem with dry bikinis.

The wet, it gets on the velvet.

(light music) >>Chef Patrick O'Connell is known as the Pope of American Cuisine.

>>It's the Pope of American Cuisine, Chef Patrick O'Connell.

>>Welcome.

Thank you so much for coming.

>>What a pleasure to meet you.

>>We get all of the politicians, movie stars, ambassadors.

(energetic music) But at the same time, there's a large segment of the people who come out here who have been waiting for their 10th wedding anniversary.

>>A pleasure, wonderful to have you here.

>>Pleasure, and thank you so much for doing this.

>>Thank you, please, come right in.

(energetic music) (guests chattering) >>Tim, you look at those gorgeous cherries.

What's up?

>>This set is the last of it.

>>Life.

>>Hello, Chef, how are you?

>>Julian, I haven't seen you in ages.

>>I know it.

>>Chef Patrick is always prepared to push the envelope forward.

>>Wanna go and taste a couple things?

>>Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.

>>That's true for the grounds.

That's true for the rooms and the interiors.

It's true for, of course, the kitchen and the food.

(pans sizzling) (strained music) >>So wonderfully crisp, mm.

Wonderful.

Wow, I'm very pleased, mm.

(gentle music) Beautifully cooked, oh!

>>Patrick was in the forefront of an evolution.

>>We'll send you up into the real world.

>>That's right.

>>I think his food has seasonality to it.

>>These are ours, yeah.

>>Ours?

>>Yeah.

>>Beautiful, it taste like turnips.

>>Good thing.

>>Yeah.

>>And a certain Virginia terroir.

(festive music) (chicken clucking) >>Has the chicken all seared off?

>>Oh, here you go.

>>Beautiful, ah!

Andre, where's that orange?

You know how patient I am.

>>Okay.

(Patrick laughs) >>Oh, thanks, sweet Jesus.

Mm.

(gentle music) The first dream was to open the restaurant in an old farmhouse, but the only access to the farmhouse was on a wooden plank that crossed a dangerous river.

(cows mooing) (gentle music) So we found a more suitable location.

In the heart of the nearest town.

(gentle music) Population at the time was 155.

>>I think if you know the origin story, as it were, him teaching himself how to cook, traveling to Europe, and then coming back to a town that was literally in the middle of nowhere, and deciding this is where he was going to open a restaurant.

And knowing from the day that he opened it, when the chicken was $4.95, of where the intent was.

>>We opened in '78.

At the end of our first year, in 1979, we closed for the month of January, and decided to go on a gastronomic pilgrimage to the greatest restaurants in France.

(playful music) Many and most of those were Michelin three-star places.

Every meal cost more than our car.

(playful music) >>Michelin are an organization that started in France in the early 1900s.

Their focus was on selling tires.

They then got into the rating of hotels and restaurants as a way to encourage people to travel.

And over the decades, it's become the Oscars and the Nobel Peace Prize all rolled into one.

It's probably the most important award or accolade that a chef can receive.

(festive music) >>That was my first experience with what Michelin stars meant.

(festive music) That appreciation of culture, gastronomy, heritage, villages, regions.

(chickens clucking) (festive music) And electricity in the room, that performance.

(festive music continues) And the contrast between where we were after the first year and a half in business, and where they were was like taking a rocket ship to a different planet.

(gentle orchestral music) And I thought, "Well, you know what?

Screw them."

We grew up on Mrs.

Paul's fish sticks, on Stouffer's lasagna, but it was a legitimate flavor memory.

(gentle orchestral music) I was taking my childhood flavor memories and bringing them forward.

We shouldn't ever be embarrassed by our past.

(enthusiastic orchestral music) I recalled a dish that I'd had 38 years ago.

It was a lobster with apples, Calvados, and a hint of curry.

(enthusiastic orchestral music) And at the time, it was shocking.

It was daring, it was stunningly original.

(upbeat music) We re-imagined it here with sea scallop seared.

(pan sizzling) It is beautiful in that it doesn't detract from the simplicity of the scallop.

It's center stage.

>>That's a pretty little scallop.

>>This is a puree of apples.

>>Okay.

>>We're gonna do this curry.

It doesn't look like anything's on the plate.

But somebody had to turn this little apple.

It had to be a good-tasting apple.

Had to be poached in a little cider.

And the curry sauce, you know, you had to grind the curry spices.

(vibrant music) It's deceptive simplicity.

The torture and the suffering is hidden, and that's the magic.

Look how pretty that scallop is.

(vibrant music) >>I would describe the cuisine here as classical preparations and classical technique with whimsy.

Caesar salad ice cream on a lamb carpaccio.

We have a pear dessert right now that looks exactly like a pear.

You always begin with the flavors.

Does it really satisfy all of your senses when you're eating it?

You should feel like that after Thanksgiving dinner, where you're just so satisfied, and you know, hopefully, if you didn't overindulge.

(vibrant music) >>Refined American cuisine is American resourcefulness, flavor memories, (vibrant music) and fun-loving, elevated.

Just something that ideally could rest side by side with a dish that was on a Michelin three-star French menu.

(curious music) Oh, I think one and two are gonna move right along.

So, you've got a lot of floss.

>>Having two Michelin stars puts you in a class of its own.

But with the kind of cooking that chef does and that he's refined over his 40-year career, there's no doubt in my mind that it's three-Michelin-star food.

(pans sizzling) (chefs chattering) (enthusiastic music) >>We're in high energy right now, focused on proving that a mere 40 years and you can possibly attain that sort of ultimate French acknowledgement, so.

>>16, be fast.

>>The Michelin Guide is the Oscars of the culinary realm.

You know, one star is a huge achievement, two stars is amazing, three stars is the top restaurants in the world.

That's something that everyone strives for.

Everyone wants to be recognized for that, and very few actually get that recognition.

>>6 is clear.

>>We've been on high alert ever since the first year, and I don't think anyone's 100% sure how the Michelin Guide operates as they want you to be.

I mean, if you could figure it out, that'd be great.

>>31, sunflower.

>>31.

>>Sunflower is a possible Michelin stars inspector.

The other night, we had like four sunflower tables.

They just kept popping up.

They're like, "Sunflower, sunflower," and we're like, (gasps).

>>Yeah, don't be shoving people's popcorn.

>>When sunflower is popped up, everybody's just on edge and is all about that one table.

(curious music) (patrons chattering) >>Anytime.

Yeah, good.

(curious music) (patrons chattering) >>Thank you.

>>What's the difference between a two and a three-star restaurant?

In a two-star restaurant, everything is superb.

The ingredients are wonderful.

(curious music) The preparations are exquisite.

(tense music) >>Eyes on 74, please.

>>74?

>>Yes, please.

(tense music continues) Julian, time two.

(tense music continues) >>But I always say, there's just a sort of feeling in the air.

The French call it frisson, an electricity in a Michelin three-star restaurant.

Like, when the curtain goes up and you have a really great star performer.

Very nice.

(gentle music) (intriguing music) (water sloshing) >>The Michelin Guide announcement is huge.

This is the second time in Washington D.C.

's history that Michelin has graded restaurants, and we're hoping to be elevated.

But we don't exactly know when the call's coming.

>>So I would say.

>>So he basically sits around.

(tense music) (phone trilling) >>Hello?

The sun is out and the light is glorious, couldn't be better.

And your name is?

Oh, I see.

>>I am the director of the Michelin Guides for the the U.S.

selection.

>>What a wonderful job you have.

>>I do, I have to say it really is a wonderful job, especially when I get to call with great news, such as what I'm about to deliver that The Inn at Little Washington has once again been awarded two stars for the Michelin Guide to D.C.

for 2018.

>>Fantastic, we are thrilled with that news and really appreciate you letting us know.

>>That's good to hear.

Will you be able to attend the party tonight?

>>I will be there.

>>Good, good, glad to hear it.

Have a wonderful day.

>>Thanks, bye >>Bye-Bye.

>>Wonderful, because we have another incentive for the year.

>>Eric's working on that at the moment.

(footfalls echoing) >>Slight change, okay.

(Patrick laughs) >>Oh, you don't know yet?

Oh, you do, of course, of course.

Michelin's decisions.

I trust them and believe in them.

>>Two stars.

I think we tried to take it not as a disappointment, but as a great achievement.

>>That's probably it for this row.

>>Michelin second star was definitely a surprise.

There was no doubt in my mind that we could accomplish that third star.

(chickens clucking) (enthusiastic music) >>When we did receive two stars for the second time, we put the pictures up of all the other two-star establishments in the world.

These are beautiful places with celebrated chefs.

And that helped.

(patrons chattering) But the great thing about being human is we are insatiable.

So the expectation is simply perfection.

A golden egg, thank you.

>>Moose of duck liver with pork jelly and barb jam in a heaven's egg.

>>For some reason, I'm getting the spoon on the egg and I have another one here.

On the plate is safer so then we can delete this one.

>>Mm-hmm, yes, isn't it.

>>Yeah, in the vase too.

That's what I like.

>>That's great.

>>Oh, what a difference.

Country opulent.

>>Lovely.

>>I believe that everybody's life mission is formed early on.

We can still see each other, that's nice.

>>Yeah, it's lovely.

>>Good work, right?

>>Yeah.

(everyone applauding and laughing) >>For me, it was being cursed with seeing what was wrong in my vision of the world.

Finding the flaws.

We're not serving out of these, are we?

>>We sure do.

>>Okay, we'll have to find a way.

We can't have that, makes it look like you're nervous.

>>I'll make a note of that.

>>Okay, wait a minute.

Didn't we have a big thing about the napkin fold?

>>We did.

>>We did?

>>Look at how the table takes on a whole different feeling when it's like this.

Exhibit that hem stitch.

You're getting inside the guest's brain.

You're seeing what they see and then you're amplifying it.

They get mad at me when I find fault with everything.

So oh, we have our Barboursville Brut from Charlottesville.

(glasses clinking) >>Happy anniversary.

>>Thank you.

This is a big year, you only turn 40 once.

Oh, my goodness, hand-burned.

Oh.

(everyone laughing) >>Now if you get five to eight years out of a restaurant, it's considered to have had a long life.

>>It's huge that this year is the 40th anniversary.

40 years in the restaurant world.

I think they're longer than dog years.

>>40 years, I mean, it's amazing.

(light music) >>Meatball restaurants don't last 39 years, let alone a Michelin-rated restaurant.

I mean, it's unbelievable how it continues to evolve.

>>We have a glorious event at Mount Vernon, George Washington's home here in Virginia.

>>Burned off, it's fire.

>>And we will sort of channel George and Martha in George Washington's 250-year-old garden at Mount Vernon.

(light music) And at the end of it all, we'll have glorious fireworks display over the Potomac.

Everyone who lives in Little Washington feels a closeness to George Washington.

Everyone chooses to believe that George Washington laid out the streets.

Like many legends, if it's a source of local pride, why not?

>>Eat, tribute, fireworks, dessert?

>>Ah, we really gotta plan this thing.

>>This is a lot.

I mean, this has been over a year in planning.

It's a lot of moving pieces as far as the 40th.

And then you have the regular operation going on, which is a little tricky.

>>Pres and desserts stay the same.

Coconut sorbet with passion fruit and ginger granite.

Apparently, a pear will be our dessert for tonight.

Is there any questions on that?

Walker, you wanna do the duck?

>>Yeah, sure, sure.

Pan-seared in peppercorn and crusted Long Island duck breast with a plank of pickled rhubarb, a duet of turnips, and all tied together with a veal stock reduction.

>>That's beautiful.

>>Just just a reminder that we can't just do a telephone book listing without the subject, the verb, and a complete sentence, such as the duck is seared.

>>Working for Patrick, capturing that detail and perfection that he's looking for, that feels really comforting to be around.

That may sound strange, but you always know what you're aiming for.

>>Hudson Valley foie gras, seared and placed over a caramelized.

>>No, is, is.

>>Is seared and then surrounded by a balsamic and raisin gastric.

>>And is surrounded by, yeah.

>>I think, personally, all of us find us doing things that we never could have imagined.

>>Yeah, yeah, I understand.

(gentle music) >>We're not even going more than 15 miles away.

>>I think it's 10, yeah.

>>10 miles.

>>Yeah.

>>And yet, we're going back in time.

The dab of light is gorgeous.

I was a kid who didn't adapt well to the real world.

Worked in a hamburger place.

We're getting close.

Ran away from home, found a shack in the woods, hid out.

It seemed to narrow down to staying warm and dry, and finding something good to eat.

All right, this was my first house.

I bought three acres and the house for, I think, $1,200.

But it isn't about the dwelling, it's about look at the light.

So while it seems all weird and radical, I mean, it can be made into kind of a caricature, what the hell do you think Thoreau was preaching, you know?

And this is still a possibility in today's world.

I find it just as irresistibly beautiful as I did then, it speaks to me in the same way.

Everyone craves sanctuary and peace.

And you can feel it everywhere here, 'til somebody pops out of that trailer with a gun.

(Patrick laughing) I would love to start cleaning it up (laughs).

When you find your spot, you plop down, and that's the only spot where you belong, where you're going to feel comfortable.

Getting somebody to pull this trailer out of there, straightening up that roof a little bit.

It's a very primitive idea.

So for me, it was recognizing, when I came here, that this was the spot where I belonged.

We have enough manpower to rip those vines off it right now.

>>You're gonna put us to work.

>>And expose it.

Julia Child's books came out and I hid out, and I'd stoke up the wood stove and I'd cook all night.

(light music) I made everything in the book three times.

And on the fourth time, I allowed myself to change it up, (playful music) and inch by inch by inch, hour by hour.

(playful music continues) Pretty, soon I was taking a classical French dish, like crumb caramel, and I was changing it to my own taste.

And I thought improving on it.

(shoes crunching) Food is survival, food is wealth, food is protection.

You can also hide behind food.

I've been well-concealed for 40 years (laughs).

(gentle music) >>So this is not your property anymore, though, right?

The hala?

>>Yeah.

I didn't know if you held on to it all these years.

I know, that's why we were allowed back.

>>Are we gonna repaint?

>>Yeah, we're gonna look at the dollhouse.

(bright music) >>How are you?

>>Good.

(bright music) >>So we just call this a light dusting.

>>Needed a little lift.

>>I got a lot of shacks now.

One shack to, however you count around here.

(playful music) That building, at one time, was a brothel and it was covered with aluminum siding.

And normal developer would've torn it down.

They would all have been torn down.

And so now, people actually believe that it was a sweet, old little colonial town.

(light music) >>For as long as I can remember, and even hearing my parents talk, the people who lived here resented any new people.

They wanted to close the gates across the Rappahannock River and not let anybody else in.

So when change was coming, it was difficult.

You know, you don't want anybody that's gonna change anything.

And I can't help but say that I suspect there were a lot of people were homophobic.

>>That caused, I think, a lot of the initial problems.

(gentle music) >>We had heard there was a new restaurant, but then you heard, as they said, restaurant back then, and it was different type of menu.

But then you heard this part about gay people.

Of course, there would be rumors about this place that if you ate, at the end, you might get AIDS.

And I don't think, at that time, I didn't even have a MasterCard.

I didn't have a credit card.

And I'd heard about gay people, but I'm not sure I ever knew that I'd ever encountered or met a gay person.

So when I offered, when we'd been working hard all day, and I said, "We're gonna do something special."

I mean, this was kinda like a big step because I was gonna step into this world that there was certainly a lot of, I won't say fear, just unknown or whatever it was around.

>>They opened in February, so we didn't go until March.

>>Yeah.

>>And I guess I never thought about the gay issue that much.

>>You might not even have heard of it.

>>So it didn't make any difference.

>>In the early days, they didn't have any clerical staff.

I had an office here, I had a copy machine, and they would say, "Oh, Diane, our mimeograph machine died.

Can we bring the menu down for tonight?"

Because they changed the menu every night.

And when I would walk home from work, there would be a big cheesecake and a bottle of champagne on the front porch.

That's what they did.

>>They were trying to become a part of the community.

>>There were people that made trouble for them.

>>A small group of people can cause an awful lot of harm.

>>It was really ugly.

I mean, they would have people out there at nighttime, harassing the customers when they'd get out of the car and drive out.

>>And just say ugly.

You know, foul language.

>>Foul language.

>>Ugly things.

>>Mm-hmm.

>>And at one point, they even started keying cars.

You know, you hold a key and go up the side of a car.

>>You know, anything in the world to undermine them.

But those guys just were above it, just good.

>>They never got discouraged.

You never heard them say, "We're just gonna move on.

The fight's not worth it, " you know?

They never ever said that.

>>We'd never anticipated that we would be in the middle of any kind of political storm or be divisive.

You'd think, "God, I thought I was normal," but I was an outsider.

What motivated me why I, part consciously, part unconsciously, came to a spot in the universe knowing that I might not be welcomed with open arms.

The defiant streak in me that I've had since birth, my mother would say, has served me well, and I like the challenge of resistance.

>>Change in this area is a little difficult.

If you, you know, it's a rural Virginia countryside.

And all of a sudden, this little gas station restaurant starts turning into limousines coming and high profile people and celebrities.

It doesn't quite fit in to what the locals or their upbringing might have been.

>>Limos, helicopters, they were landing helicopters on our property here for a while.

And yeah, that was a, I mean, it was a big deal.

Not only were they successful, so we had these other people coming in.

It became basically a company town.

>>The whole town is basically The Inn at Little Washington.

>>We would never use the verb taking over anything.

The newspaper once referred to us as the Inn that ate little Washington.

But (laughs) worst things could have happened.

>>The talk will be all over town about what was going on Ray Gooch's porch?

A big production, really.

>>Isn't it?

>>A lot of trouble, isn't it?

We need a bigger porch for next time.

>>If you dream it and are delusional enough, and are prepared to sacrifice whatever might need to be sacrificed, you can make things happen.

>>The business never stops.

There's always something going on.

>>Making beds, cleaning toilets, phones are ringing all day long.

I do everything (laughs).

>>Where's, oh, my tea.

Oh, my God.

It's freezing in here, Bob, I'm frozen.

Oh God, it was so good.

>>This looks gorgeous.

>>All right, are we ready for her or do you want to start someplace else?

>>She's coming on.

Rough, rough, rough.

>>Hi Joyce, it's Rachel.

Is now still a good time?

I'm gonna put you on speakerphone.

>>Joyce?

>>Joyce.

>>Hello, Patrick.

>>Well, hello, hello, hello.

>>Oh, very nice to hear from you and Rachel.

>>There is always something going on, just because of the life cycle of the hotel.

>>We got a little carried away and one end of the building disappeared.

>>Oh!

>>So it looks like a little dollhouse with a side missing.

>>Oh, my God!

>>It's wide open.

The walls are gone.

>>Oh, my God!

>>Something like Norman house, which is the big project we're working on now.

The scope is decided and then the architectural drawings go to London.

There's phone calls back and forth with Joyce Evans, the interior designer.

She sounds like your fairy godmother.

>>Too much going on, I don't know how you keep up with it, oh, it's a miracle.

>>We chase after it.

We're always in a swirl.

>>Some requests, she honors, some requests, she ignores.

>>Rachel tells me that the outside is a sort of sandy color.

>>Yes.

>>Is that right?

>>Yeah, exactly, we'd channel Mount Vernon.

>>It sounds wonderful.

And I like the sandy color 'cause it's warm and welcoming.

I'm drawing up my suggestion now, and I'm gonna send it tomorrow morning from the news agent.

So my fax machine isn't working, but the news agent will send it for me.

>>She's a true magician.

She's able to go into a trance, envision the room in great detail.

>>That's wonderful.

And that'll get my drawing in the fax machine tomorrow morning.

>>Terrific.

Bye.

>>Bye.

>>This is Joyce's ceiling in the library with nails studded into leather.

I love when you have a fantasy and someone can take it further.

It's part of the fairytale.

(exciting music) (water sloshing) (exciting music continues) Come in, come in, come in.

Who can it be?

It's Joe.

And you cut the Parmesan like a coal miner in a good way.

>>Yes, Chef.

>>You broke it?

>>Yes, Chef.

>>Yes, so it has ridges.

>>Yes, Chef.

>>Yeah, the other way makes it look cheap and nasty, and your tongue doesn't get it right.

>>Yes, Chef.

>>Okay.

>>Everybody's always trying to outperform the other to separate yourself.

>>It needs more aging, it's not bad.

>>There's a little competition between when we're putting up dishes to chef.

>>Come in, come in.

Oh, it's out a tiny plate.

>>Yes, Chef.

>>Sometimes good things are on tiny plates.

>>Sometimes.

Sometimes not.

>>Okay.

>>We have a battle of whose dish is gonna be better?

Whose dish is gonna get approved?

>>Another take on our floss sandwich, Chef.

I know you weren't happy with the tuile, so I have a black pepper tuile this time.

Omitted the strawberry, did a little salt and gelee, and a straight rhubarb preserve on the bottom.

>>Tuile looks and tastes dirty.

It looks a little rough.

I think it would be more interesting if it were a pure tuile.

>>Absolutely, Chef.

>>It's a friendly competition.

You know, you look at, we have three menus.

One's our vegetable menu and we have the classics menu, which is tough to sort of change up a little bit.

You wanna kind of modernize it a little bit or find some new way to do the classics.

>>Hi, Chef.

>>Oh, I saw that earlier.

>>But it's really hard to work with that one.

Then we have our menu of the moment, which is kind of, you know, more free.

Some salsa feta carrots, baby leeks, and asparagus.

>>And they got wrapped in what?

>>They got wrapped in leek.

You know, everyone kind of has their own process with creativity and coming up with dishes.

I mean, I usually sit down, and like, you know, read some books or write down a bunch of ideas, and then try and hash 'em out one at a time.

Usually, they end up being far from what I wrote down.

>>It's certainly very old fashioned.

It's a nice lunch dish.

Perfect for people over 65.

>>I believe that Andrew wanted to play with some white asparagus and wanted to work on a dish, probably to replace a dish that I was working on.

So we'll see.

>>First crack, so.

Sometimes you both lose, and sometimes, someone comes on top.

>>Did this smoosh?

>>Yeah, Chef, yeah, Chef.

A little bit of more of an Anglia, Chef.

We're the longest running five-star, five-diamond property in the country.

And you know, we're in the pursuit of this third Michelin star.

We're never satisfied with where we're at.

>>So why don't we get some coarse black pepper to emphasize, we think we'd stage this.

Ah, now I can see that it is black pepper.

>>Yes, Chef >>Gastric, and I'll get rid of this one, oh.

>>That's what chef has.

He'd probably kill me if I use the word perfection, but we're always in pursuit of it.

>>I love it, and they actually have a nice mouth feel.

They're like a, at first, they're intriguing, like a little baby marshmallow.

And then you can't figure out what they are immediately, but they have a nice contribution.

>>And the cook on the white asparagus is nice?

>>Very nice.

It is very hard to push them into spontaneity sometimes because it's very uncomfortable.

So we have to sometimes create discomfort to prove that there's growth.

When everyone is comfortable, there is no growth.

And you have to be a little on edge sometimes.

(exciting music) >>I got garlic shot parsley for you for that, too.

>>Yeah.

>>What we have done here is get every single person on our staff of 148 people clicking on all cylinders to create the energy here to say, "We're all in."

(upbeat music) >>Excuse me, sir.

And pint, thank you.

I think like in this kind of environment, stress is a word.

I mean, I could say I embrace the stress.

Thank you very much, Brad.

But it is more you kind of fuel.

You're fueled off adrenaline a little.

And we're gonna go out to the koi pond here.

You're always just trying to survive it.

>>The key is not to let the stress take over and become an animal that controls you.

(playful music) >>I mean, chicken's definitely the most stressful.

Making sure it's cooked properly, not overcooked.

>>It's always, always stressful.

Like, okay, we're trusting you to not screw up shaving the truffle or dropping the truffle in their pasta or something.

Anything can happen here anytime, and it does.

>>It would not surprise me at all if somebody comes running into the room right now (gasping), saying, "I'm sure we have a Michelin inspector.

He just walked in."

And they always call, just does.

Hello.

Kitchen table times.

Some days, oh, you need a crash helmet.

>>We have six months 'til the next Michelin round.

We want that third star.

That factors into everything we do.

Everybody's coming.

>>They're all coming in?

Yeah, you, I could feel the heaviest weight of the world I've ever felt on my back in my entire life, and I don't know how I'm gonna get it off.

Chef, we're gonna go, but we're just gonna do, get all your organized outfits organized.

Then all of a sudden, you break through, and you're like, "Somehow we did it.

Now it's on to the next."

>>Okay, most importantly, we all enjoy making people happy.

>>To celebrate the 40th anniversary.

We have a wonderful celebration coming up at George Washington's Mount Vernon.

There are layers and layers and layers of detail that go into something like this.

And the vibe as we get really close to the capstone event of the 40th anniversary is really intense.

>>So how old were you in 1978?

And what were you wearing?

But more importantly, what were you eating?

>>I could say just in what were you eating?

Take it down into kind of a sexy place.

What was wearing?

And then, what were you eating?

>>Okay, right, right.

Yeah, yeah.

>>I call it the sexy place, but it's the place of appetite.

>>Okay, yeah.

>>We are trying to make sure all the remarks are tight.

>>On this very special anniversary.

>>It's chef's comfort level, making sure he's okay.

We have to have his schedule all set for transportation.

>>6:52.

>>His wardrobe, how he's navigating through the parties and that sort of thing is priority one.

>>We have a five-minute fife and drum procession through the general reception and then into the tent.

>>I've appointed the (beep) person that if the time's running, someone's gonna whisper in my ear, hand me a note of we're moving to plan B kind of thing.

>>We just made some changes.

>>I'm a mess inside.

(Robert laughing) >>Day by day, I guess.

You wanna put, let's do Friday closest to the closet.

>>Okay.

>>Ivory shirt, red pants, woo!

Ivory shirt, red pants, woo!

Oh, boy.

>>Fireworks are shooting off tomorrow at 9:55.

>>And he'll need those black buckle shoes.

Do those make it back here?

>>They're here.

>>Okay.

>>If everybody's on the lawn watching them or if nobody's on the lawn watching them, so.

>>It's gonna be, this is the exciting part coming.

(curious music) >>Where's my iced tea?

There, it's up in the front.

>>Is there enough, though?

It's not much.

>>It's fine.

It's all right.

>>Okay.

>>I can pretend.

We'll see you there, Bob.

>>Could you?

>>Before we check in.

>>Yeah.

>>Yeah, we're just going a couple miles.

>>Okay, thank you.

What's the temperature outside now?

>>It is 84.

>>Okay, wow, we are a little tight.

What time does it start at the?

>>Six.

>>Oh, for God's sake.

>>4:40 arrival.

>>Oh, my God.

Yeah, that's why we should have gotten up at dawn.

>>It's true.

(light music) >>I don't know where I'm going.

>>All right, I know we we're finding the tent.

Oh, we go this.

The planning of this 40th anniversary event has been going on for over a year.

Should have brought my hat under it.

>>I'm happy to go get it.

Well, you'd be back here in 2.7 hours (laughs).

>>This event has been nonstop relentless.

>>Oh, there you go.

>>You're right.

>>And it's hopefully gonna be the dream that he wants to come true.

>>You look beautiful.

These are serious buttons.

You reach a point where you question whether or not any of this makes sense.

>>You should come see my closet.

(Patrick laughing) >>So for me, you have to embrace the absurdity.

>>General Washington.

>>Welcome back, my good friend.

>>A pleasure.

>>This is a dilemma, you understand?

I bow in your honor, but as an old school Virginian, I don't take hands.

>>I see.

Well, in the kitchen we hit elbows.

Are you allowed to do that, boink?

There is no explaining fashion, sir.

>>Well, this is very practical, you see, because you don't have to wash your hands every time you greet someone.

>>Why would you want to wash your hands every time you greet someone?

You are completely confusing me, I must tell you.

(Patrick laughing) >>Such a vast expanse.

>>It is a mile and a quarter wide here.

And no, I never threw a coin across it.

>>I have been inspired by your house to create my own world in miniature.

That's why we call it Little Washington.

We have only 133 inhabitants, which is probably more than are living on your estate.

>>No, we have probably my own 300.

>>300.

>>Yes.

>>It must be a challenge determining when you're allowed out of character.

>>Well, when I get home to my house in the hollow north of Philadelphia and I'm told to take out the trash, I know I'm not George Washington.

(strained music) >>After all of the years of anticipating the event.

>>I'm just trying to get the camera angle.

I think it sounds good.

>>You're afraid that it won't live up to all the hype you've attached to it.

Mount Vernon and The Inn have much in common.

It takes about the same number of people to run the inn as it did to run Mount Vernon.

>>It's a very different beast, executing for 350 guests.

All the lobster's gonna be preset here, let alone out of a tent.

The only issue is we don't have power for the stones here.

>>Power?

Oh, no power.

>>It's a lot of moving parts.

So there does pose a lot of challenges.

You don't have gas ovens and things like that.

If you forget something, you're kind of just gotta figure it out.

>>The Deming spoon is on that plate.

>>Yeah, correct.

>>If all hell breaks loose, I just go screaming.

>>Chefs are notorious control freaks.

>>You can lay out all of your plates for a course?

>>Yeah, I mean, we'll walk it.

>>Chef now, you know, has to trust us to make the right decisions and to execute things that will be done in the fashion that he would want them.

(light music) >>The entire army of people working on this is vested in creating something that we all know will only happen once in our lives.

(festive music) With any kind of grand event like this, there's an expectation.

>>From New York >>Mr.

President.

>>Now Maine and Vermont.

It's very important that the arrival is choreographed carefully.

(guests chattering) Yeah, yeah, thank you, thank you.

(uplifting music) >>People are coming from all over the world.

Daniel Boulud will be there, Jose Andres will be there.

Gary Danko, Andrea Mitchell, Tim and Nina Zagat, the executive chef from the White House, Cristeta Comerford, will be there.

We have Tim Ryan from the Culinary Institute of America.

>>Oh, my goodness.

Who needs no introduction at all.

So honored to have you here.

We lived through the war together (laughs).

Many of them.

(guests chattering) (uplifting music) >>Can I help?

>>Where's young Andre?

What's this, shoes?

>>That was Bonnie's.

>>Bonnie's, okay.

>>I had a shoe change.

(guests chattering) >>70% there.

7:10, 25 minutes.

>>I think they're great.

>>Well, we have seven minutes.

>>Yeah.

>>Ah, the vertigo is in.

>>Oh, no.

>>Oh, tilted.

>>Oh, boy, oh my God.

>>Feel like the vertigo has got a hold of me.

No, no, that's just, oh, my head.

(guests chattering) >>Can we pile for this on next?

>>Yeah.

(guests chattering) (tense music) >>I think that's it.

>>Okay.

Yeah, the ginger tea I think is still over here.

That's helping.

Okay, how far is the nearest bathroom?

All the way down?

Well, it's outside down there.

Okay, fantastic.

Okay.

(people chattering) >>Everybody, let's go.

Get all hands on deck down.

>>Some water?

>>Thank you.

(guests chattering) >>How many seconds does it take to get down the hall?

Is there any water in the podium, just in case?

>>Yes.

>>Oh, there is.

>>There's three glasses underneath the podium that you can.

>>Just a tiny, you know, yeah.

>>I'll be right back.

>>A dirty glass is fine, I love dirty glasses.

>>Hello, are we ready?

>>Okay, let's go.

(guests applauding) >>Ladies and gentlemen, the Pope of American Cuisine.

(guests cheering and applauding) >>Tonight is an invitation to reflect on the last four decades of our lives >>Level, ma'am, level, level, level.

>>So how old were you in 1978?

And what were you wearing?

But more importantly, what were you eating?

What makes a place like ours endure in a culture which reinvents itself every 15 minutes?

It's actually pretty simple.

Every day we just try to make it a little bit better than it was the day before.

And we've created a unique culture of civility and caring.

>>Why is she waving them around like it's a flag?

(guests chattering) (uplifting music) >>In any art, the idea is to do something, which looks superhuman.

Oh, my God, are you dead?

>>Yeah.

>>But you learn to and you make it look easy.

(uplifting music continues) Everything has changed and nothing has changed.

You're still the same person you were.

Mm, oh.

The place is still a derelict old shoebox, it's still your shack.

I am an incrementalist.

You move a little bit forward this way and then the next move reveals itself.

Right now, the next move is to just keep evolving.

Looks great.

Cleverly, Michelin gave us something to continue to work towards.

>>We're working as hard as we possibly can to get that third Michelin star.

>>I know that we can put out three-star food.

I've seen it, I've tasted it.

>>You're still trying to just make the illusion true, and it works.

You just can't give up.

(uplifting music) Good morning, Michael.

>>Is now, this year, my great honor and pleasure to confirm to you that you and your team at Inn of Little Washington have been awarded your third Michelin star.

>>Ohh.

Oh, happy.

(everyone cheering and applauding) >>I was so happy for Patrick.

Not only he's a great chef, a great restaurateur, but he's an amazing visionary.

For what he has represented to the excellence of dining in America, for him to have been bestowed three star, it's fantastic.

>>Congratulations to each every one of you.

>>Dear, Patrick.

Congratulations to you for your perseverance, to your staff.

I mean, you deserve every single star in the sky.

>>I mean, you can't settle back on your laurels, and say, "Well, we've got it now."

I mean, now you have to continue to earn that accolade year in and year out.

And I'm excited for what's next.

>>Getting the three Michelin stars was overwhelming for me.

And it goes to show that The Inn at little Washington, after 40 years, is remains on top and continues to ascend.

>>It was so glorious, but now I'm thinking about what I'm gonna be eating at the next meal.

(Patrick laughing) It's back to work.

>>Wonder what he's thinking right now.

>>He's saying, "I'm used to treats.

I don't work for free."

What are all these people doing here in your backyard?

Oh, look at you.

I like your buttons.

I like everything about this.

Makes me want to be a dog.

All right, oh, whoa, I'm telling you what you have to go through as a working dog.

Oh, my God, I knew that it was gonna happen.

Now I have to go get new red pants.

>>Oh.

(everyone laughing) (playful music) (light music)