Potato and Ham Soup... Part I

I had some of the best potato and ham soup last weekend!  We ventured out to my favorite place on earth for Drummer's Call Weekend at Williamsburg, VA.  We decided to have an early dinner/late lunch at Season's restaurant (where we seem to eat just about every time we are up there).  Since it was still a lunch menu, I decided to try the soup special... the potato and ham soup.  How do I describe how wonderful it was?  It was nice and filling.  The broth was creamy, but not so thick that it stuck to the spoon.  The ham and potatoes were cut into nice bite size pieces.  The potatoes were a red skinned potato, with the skin still attached.  They were soft and creamy.  There was a lot of flavor.  I think the broth was made with chicken stock, and it tasted like it had been simmered for quite a while with the celery and onions.  There was a kick of pepper and the salt seemed perfect.  The bowl of soup was a perfect portion.  I was a little worried when I ordered it, we both got a bit of color in the bright sun watching the Fifes and Drummers do their thing.  It was probably around 84 degrees outside.  Who eats hot soup after spending the day outside sweating?  I am really glad I decided to have the soup!

I am planning on doing a variation on this soup for dinner later this week.  My spin, I'll be making it in my crock pot.  I'm excited about trying it this way.  Even better:  it will allow me to go and see Darryl play soccer and we'll have dinner ready when we get back to the house.  (He always jokes that I only go and see him play soccer because we end up going out to eat afterwords since it's so late and will take too long to make dinner.)

Fish and Chips, Seasons Restaurant, Part II

Good Morning! I would just like to start out by saying: Dinner Rocked last night! 

But now I'll admit, it was not exactly how I planned it to turn out.  Read on... I'll explain.

I found a great recipe in the "Joy of Cooking" cookbook for the beer batter.  In the cook book, it is used for shrimp, but I figured it's really the same concept, minus the shell.  (Which, minus the shell is good for me, since I'm allergic to shell fish).  It involves flour, baking powder, salt, two eggs, milk, and of course: beer.  I used some Yuengling beer we had in the house... and since you only use 3/4 cup, I just had to finish what was left over.  I also added a bunch of spices to the batter to give it some heat, similar to what I could taste at Seasons.  I didn't have any Old Bay, but next time I make this, I'm gonna be sure to pick some up.

For the fish itself, I wandered over to my local grocery story (aka Wegmans), and inquired with the gentleman behind the fish counter, what would be the best to use.  Of the choices he had there, the cod made the most sense.  It was a white fish that would stand up well to the frying process and was sturdy enough to be cut up into slices.  I grabbed about a pound and was on my way.

Once home, I cut the fish into strips.  Here's where my dinner differed from the one I had at Seasons.  I did not cut my pieces into very small strips the way they did.  I really liked the way they did it, and next time I want to get a thinner piece of fish so I can do that.  My pieces turned out to be way too big, and we didn't end up eating all of the fish.  I guess I'll find out how it will taste as leftovers for lunch today.

The next process was to soak the fish pieces in the beer batter for a half hour.  During that time, the batter became nice and thick.  Each piece of fish was nicely coated when it came time to fry them.  While waiting during this soaking process, I decided to make my own fresh french fries... but I baked them in the oven rather than heating more oil (than the oil I was heating for the fish).  I do have a deep fryer, but I haven't used it yet.  I really should pull it out and try it some time.

The fries went into the oven as I poured vegetable oil into my electric skillet (which has it's own thermostat and would keep my oil at just the temperature I wanted it).  Once the oil reached 365 F, I let my preciously battered fish swim away!

Each piece fried for about two and a half minutes on each side, making sure the batter was yummy gold and delicious.  I then drained them on a plate lined with paper towels. 

The meal turned out to be a huge success.  I was complemented on my accomplishment with the batter sticking to the fish.  (We've tried this before, and we ate the batter as a side dish to the fish we cooked... not so good).  I added some spices to the fries before they went into the oven and they turned out spectacularly.  Slightly hot for my taste, but still wonderfully cooked. 

Overall, I'm excited about making this meal again.  The only problem I found, my house smells like the fish this morning.  The fish did not have an odor when I brought it home from the store, so I think it's just the natural "fish cooking" smell.  My mom's solution when she cooks food at home: burn a few candles for about an hour.  You know, it actually works.  Guess I need to find a few candles.

It was really nice to do a great job with dinner last night.  I'm in the middle of writing a big paper for school, so I was worried my heart might not be into cooking.  It was actually a really nice break and perked me up.  Then, after dinner I decided to give the paper a longer rest and joined some friends at a Civil War dance lesson.  It's ballroom dancing meets hoop skirts... except we don't actually have to dress in the civil war outfits.  It was great to expend some of that energy.

Today, after this is posted, it's back to writing my paper.  I really enjoy writing these blog entries better... plus, they involve food.  My paper, not so much.  :)

So, I encourage you to visit Seasons Restaurant in Williamsburg and try this dish.  Once you've done that, I encourage you to come home and make it for yourself.  Not counting the wait time on the batter, it was a quick meal to make. 

Just a quick editor's note, I'm slightly changing the way I name my blog entries to include the main dish.

Seasons Restaurant, Merchants Square Williamsburg, Part I

This is another dining experience that is over a month old.  On our first night in Williamsburg, we decided to eat at Seasons Restaurant and Tavern located on South Henry Street in the area known as Merchants Square at the far end of the Colonial Williamsburg historic district.  It was within walking distance of our hotel and there was a bus stop near by if we wanted to use Colonial Williamsburg's shuttle system.  (This system came in handy on the nights we had late programs, and by the end of the week when we just couldn't walk anymore).

The decor of the restaurant was unique.  Our table was on a "front porch."  The walkway sort of resembled a street, and then there was another "front porch" that was facing our way.  The doorway from our "front porch" lead into the bar area.  Another area looked like a large garden patio, with another area looking like a large dining room of a colonial home. 

I decided to enjoy a Season's Sangria, made with red wine, spirits, and fresh fruit and fruit juices.  It was really tasty, and probably a little dangerous because it didn't taste like there was any alcohol in it at all.  I did also have two glasses of water... we did spend the day walking around Historic Jamestowne and Jamestown Settlement.  Later that evening we were joining the Continental Army for a great evening program.  (I figured it would not be the best thing to enlist while under the influence).

For my meal, I enjoyed a very interesting take on Fish and Chips.  The french fries were lightly covered in a batter and then fried.  The batter was a very effective means to help hold the extra salt I applied.  Here's the interesting part:  rather than getting one large piece of fish... my fish was cut up almost like chicken fingers, and individually battered and fried.  The beer batter had a nice consistency and wonderful seasoning.  There was a kick of spice to it.  I think it was Old Bay seasoning.  The fish itself was nice and moist and flavorful as well.

We decided to skip dessert and instead enjoyed one more glass of water.

I really enjoyed this restaurant.  Our waiter was friendly and knowledgeable.  He gave us some great tips about what to see and where to go while in Williamsburg.

You can visit Seasons Restaurant and Tavern's website to learn more, or just show up at 110 South Henry Street, Williamsburg, VA 23185.

I will be trying to make this meal tonight for dinner.  Wish me luck!

King's Arms Tavern, Part II

I was so excited last week Tuesday when I was grocery shopping.  I always check out the meat department at Wegmans to find these amazing little orange stickers that say "special today."  Usually they can be found on meat that is nearing the last days it should be sold.  Of course this is Wegmans, so that date is sooner than any of my other local grocery stores... Giant would probably try to sell it for another week, and I don't even want to guess how much longer Food Lion/Bloom would wait.  Anyways, as I was looking around the beef section I noticed two beautiful Fillet Mignon's half price!  I got both of them for $13.  YES!  I could try to recreate my King's Arms meal!!!!  Since it was my favorite, I was really excited.

When making my weekly menu out, I decided to put the King's Arms meal on Friday so that I would have plenty of time to make it.  Well, by the time Friday rolled around, I was really tired.  I didn't feel like cooking, and I don't think Darryl did either.  But I could not let the beef go to waste.  I decided to make the meal anyways.

The Williamsburg cookbook had a short cut for making the brown sauce using gravy mix.  I decided not to try that, since everything I've been making has been just about from scratch.  Also, I didn't have the short-cut type ingredients.  Darryl makes a very similar brown sauce, and we usually freeze a bunch in ice cube trays, so I thought I would use that.  You just pull out a few cubes right before the meal is ready and pop them in the microwave.  Heat and serve.

I cut up the potatoes like I'd been doing for all my other meals last week, seasoned them, and wrapped them in tin foil to put on the grill.  They were taking about a half hour or so to cook, so I went ahead and put them on the grill and went back in the house to get the beef ready.  I should have looked at the thermometer on the grill to see that it was oh... 500 or so degrees.  I had been cooking the potatoes around 350 degrees. 

I just lightly seasoned the beef with salt and pepper and just a touch of garlic and onion powder.  Took them out to the grill and put them on.  I got beautiful grill marks on each side, but when I cut into the larger steak, it was still very red.  I decided to leave them on just a few minutes more.  We enjoy our meat medium-rare.

Ok, time to talk about the disaster I should have called dinner.  First, we didn't actually have any brown sauce in the freezer.  I think I found something that once perhaps was... but it was now an icy clump of mess that you may find on the side of the road after a really bad snowstorm.

My beef, well, I over cooked it.  It was a medium to medium-well.  I read in a cookbook that you want to pull the beef off a few minutes before you think it is done, because the meat continues to cook.  Now I understand why.  Besides being cooked more than we normally like, we did eat it and enjoy it.  I probably could have used a little more salt and pepper because they were thick pieces, but overall it was pretty good.

Now for the potatoes.  Does anyone need any extra charcoal for their grill?  Yep.  Burnt to a crisp.  I even have the picture to prove it:

I know, they don't look so bad, but the smoky flavor given off by the ones that were bad penetrated all the other ones.  Besides, if you flip over the good looking ones (if you can even get them off the tin foil), you will find they are just as bad.

You'll notice, I have not talked about any vegetables...  that is because I didn't make any.  My anti-veggie protest of sorts. 

So, my lesson?  Don't give up, but don't cook something nice when you really don't feel like it.  Perhaps I should have made my chicken pot-pies that day... (those were made from left overs from the Shields Tavern dinner).

I plan on attempting this meal again.  And I will make sure my head is in the game when I do.  It was an awesome meal at the tavern, and I think it could be an awesome meal here.  Perhaps I'll make it for a group and even include the relishes and creamed Spinach.

The King's Arms Tavern, Willilamsburg, Part I

The King's Arms Tavern was my favorite... no FAVORITE dining experience in Colonial Williamsburg!  Rather than just a meal, this was a dining experience from the moment we walked in through the door.  We were seated at a small table on the very edge of the one dining room we were in.  The table was right next to a window and had a perfect view into the kitchen when the waiters and waitresses walked out.  Our table was also near the door to the next dining room, so most of the waiters and waitresses had to walk right by our table.  Sorta high traffic, but also a nice distance away from the other diners in the room.  It was also nice that we could see the different meals as they went by, which helped us make our decisions.  Our room was decorated very nicely with carpeting and wallpaper and nice candle holders and looking glasses (mirrors).  We had an early reservation at 5:00pm because we had an evening program to attend, so the room was lit by daylight.  Our waitress was amazing!  She was so friendly and knowledgeable, and very entertaining. 

Not long after being sat, we were told all about the history of our dining room.  Then our napkins, and their size, were explained to us.  The napkins were like mini-tablecloths!  Why so big?  (good question... same one I had... so happy we are on the same page!).  Well, the napkins were traditionally tied around the neck since the tavern was frequented by your upper class or gentry level of society.  The diner could tie the napkin around their neck to catch any food they may drop and protect their beautiful clothing.  Apparently they didn't have quite the clothing collection I have in my closet.  :)  The waitress then noticed the puzzled look on my face and said "I bet you are wondering why they may have dropped food?"  Please tell!!!  Forks were different... they really didn't hold food like they do today, so diners would use their knives to shovel food into their mouth.  (I know, red flag... mom always said "don't eat your food with your knife!"  Good thing times have changed.)  Since I was wearing a summery button-down shirt and a skort, I opted to place the napkin in my lap.  The table of teachers from California opted to tie them around their necks. 

We started our meal with a cheese plate.  There were four cheeses: gouda, sharp cheddar, bleu and brie.  There was also some green grapes, two strawberries cut into slices, and a piece of French baguette bread.  It was all delightful.  I really enjoyed the bleu, it wasn't super strong.  It was dry but spreadable.  The brie was a mild brie.  The cheddar and gouda were pretty standard.

Remember how I said this was more of a dining experience than just a meal?  Well, it was time to learn about relishes.  Our waitress brought a sample of three different relishes.  There was pickled watermelon rinds, a corn and pepper relish, and then a very salty ham mash relish.  I tried the pickled watermelon a few years ago on another trip to Williamsburg and did not enjoy it then, so I skipped it this time.  The corn was interesting, it's served cold.  I could taste the corn and red and green peppers, and then I'm pretty sure there were pickles as well.  I don't like pickles.  I did not care for the ham relish at all... again I think I tasted pickles.  I'll admit, I have trouble being adventurous with my food.  Upon serving these relishes our waitress explained that now-a-days, if you relish something, you cherish it.  Back then, if you relished something, it meant that you put relish on your food to hide the stale taste of the meat.  Don't forget, they didn't have quite the same methods of preserving meat like we do today, nor did they have refrigerators.  I know I don't like my meat once it's lived in the refrigerator for more than a few days.  During the "relish" stage of our meal, we were also presented with a basket of bread, again a bread that would have been served by the tavern in the 1772.  It had the density of a pound cake, but it was not as sweet.  Definitely more dense than bread that would be served at a restaurant today.  I enjoyed it with some butter that melted right in.

Meal time!  I ordered Deuling Beef Collops: two fillets of Beef that were served over a bed of roasted red potatoes with a brown sauce and some yellow and green squash.  If you have read my other posts, it will not shock you that I only took a small bite of my squash.  It was cooked nicely, but it's a vegetable and and really didn't have any more of that.  My potatoes were wonderful.  They were nicely roasted with a hint of rosemary.  The beef was good.  I did ask for medium-rare.  It was slightly more done than I would have liked, but I also order knowing that each own cook has their own idea of each level of doneness.  And really, only one of the beef pieces was more medium, the other was just about perfect.  They both still had an amazing taste.  The outside was nicely seared with the simple flavor of salt and pepper.  It paired nicely with the brown sauce.  Speaking of the brown sauce, you could taste the complexity of flavors, from the first layer of carrots, onions and the bouquet of herbs, to the second layer that had more onion and tomato.  Really the sauce was a perfect complement to both the beef and the potatoes.  It was also a useful tool to hide the fact that I was eating some of my veggies. 

It's a good thing I proof read... I almost forgot.  During our main course, the waitress brought out a bowl of creamed spinach.  This was another traditional item that would be found on the dinner table.  There was shredded Parmesan cheese on top.  I tried the cheese, but I'm sure you've already guessed that I skipped the green part.  Sorry, I just can't do spinach.

When our waitress came to collect our empty dinner plates, she asked if we enjoyed it.  Our answer "we definitely did NOT relish our meal!" It was perfect and did not need to be hidden by the relish.  :)  She cracked up laughing and you could tell she was impressed that we had listened to her earlier.

Time for dessert.  I had the Chocolate Williamsburg ice cream.  It was amazing, but I was a little disappointed to find out it was no longer actually made in Williamsburg.  Williamsburg rather contracted with Eddy's to produce it.  It does make sense from a cost standpoint, and it is the same recipe as before.  It was rich and creamy and amazing.  Darryl had a signature dessert called a Syllabub.  It is a wine-laced cream whipped to a froth, seasoned with lemon zest and garnished with seasonal berries.  He really enjoyed it.  There was a strong lemon flavor.  I was only able to grab a very small spoonful to try before being told that if I really wanted it, I could have ordered one for myself.  :)  There is a recipe for the Syllabub in the cookbooks I bought, so I do plan on making it at some point.  I'll need help eating it though, the recipe serves 8. 

So, back to the "experience," we had the chance to meet the tavern keeper.  She was excited to hear that we were from Fredericksburg and wondered if we knew her cousin.  We played along and said we'd visited with her many times and she is doing well.  We learned more about the history of the tavern and heard stories of some of it's more famous visitors.  I bet you would like to hear who those visitors were... but you'll have to visit the tavern yourself to find out.

We were also entertained by a roving musician.  Our dinning room had the pleasure in participating in a few sing-a-longs, the most memorable being about Nottingham Ale, the finest of all the ales.  After the song, we asked our waitress if we could try this ale and were disappointed to find out that they didn't carry it.  We didn't actually expect them too, so we weren't truly disappointed.  But we did jokingly give our waitress a hard time about it.  She was really wonderful.

As our meal finished and we paid the $150ish bill, we walked out very full.  Our waitress did give us some pointers on some of the things to see and do while in Williamsburg and promised us that our dining experience at The King's Arms Tavern would be our best.  She definitely was not wrong.  It was by far the best dining experience we had while in Williamsburg.

Thank you for reading!  I hope you enjoyed my tale of The King's Arms Tavern.  If you wish to visit from home, you can check out this website to The King's Arms Tavern.  The history of the tavern can be found on the last page of the dinner menu.

Dinner at Shields Tavern, Williamsburg, Part II. It's my turn to cook.

Ok, the picture doesn't do the dish justice.  I did take it with my phone.  And, this is only my plate, so you'll notice there's only a few bites of squash in the upper corner.  :)

I think I did pretty good with this dish.  I decided to plate it a little differently than it was plated at Shields Tavern... let each food item stand on it's own and put the Madeira sauce in the middle.  There's a reason for that... read on.

I decided to cook almost everything on our grill, kinda sorta in the fashion that would be done in colonial times... except that they cooked in a kitchen that was not attached to their house and had a fireplace and coals and such.  I figured the grill was outside of my house (although run off a gas line attached to the house).  The whole idea of having a separate kitchen was a great idea.  You didn't have the smell of the food lingering for hours in the living spaces, and if your kitchen burned down, you didn't lose your whole house.  I hope to NEVER burn down my kitchen, and I really wish I had cooked the Madeira sauce outside.  My house smells like onions, still, today, and I made this meal yesterday!

I'll start with my least favorite item: the veggies.  I got some green and yellow squash at the Fredericksburg farmers market by Hurkamp park.  I like that I can get the variety of fresh produce daily at that location... helps with fresh meals.  I cut them into 1/2 inch thick pieces, brushed on some extra virgin olive oil (evoo) along with some salt and pepper.  They went on the grill for about 6-8 minutes as the chicken and potatoes were finishing up.  I'll admit, I did enjoy them... and think I'll make more for dinner tomorrow. 

The potatoes:  red potatoes I picked up at the farmer's market as well.  I cut them into equal-ish sized wedges, coated with evoo, salt and pepper.  I put them into a foil pouch and placed them on the grill for about 20 or so minutes.  They turned out really good.  Nice and soft on the inside.  Slightly crispy on the outside.

The chicken:  I borrowed this recipe from a weekend trip we took to our friends' house in Waynesboro, VA.  They made an awesome beer can chicken.  So did I.  The recipe is in a Weber's cook book "Real Grilling."  I figured it was a great way to make a roasted chicken.  It used the same herbs I could taste on the chicken I had at Shields Tavern... thyme and rosemary, and a hint of garlic.  The recipe also calls for paprika, which I did use, but think I should have used a spicier pepper to more closely mimic the kick the chicken at the restaurant had.  This was one of my "live and learn" moments.  None the less, the chicken was great.  Very moist on the inside and out.  Very flavorful from the herbs and spices, and nicely crispy from the flames that enjoyed the dripping fat.  (another live and learn moment when I opened the grill to a bonfire).  In the picture above, you are seeing just the leg and thigh... I'm more of a dark meat fan, so Darryl had the pleasure of enjoying the white meat.  During carving though, I did sneak a piece and it was just as moist as the dark meat.

The Madeira Sauce:  this was probably my best "live and learn" moment.  First off, don't cook onions in a house with closed up windows.  Like I said, my house still smells like onion.  This is one of the recipes I took from a cook book I bought in Colonial Williamsburg: "Favorite Meals from Williamsburg."  In the book, the sauce is introduced for the Yuletide Supper and served on top of boneless breast of chicken with Virginia ham.  I don't want to give away the whole recipe, but it does involve minced carrot, minced onion, butter, beef broth, flour and about an hour of simmering.  Then you make a second flavor layer by simmering shallots in Madeira for about 10 minutes.  You mix the two layers together and simmer for another 15 minutes.  Serve warm.  My flavor was great, you could really taste each ingredient, and I used low sodium beef broth, so it was not too salty.  My only problem was that it was so thick.  Even thicker than gravy.  I had to stir in extra beef broth to thin it out.  This is why I decided to serve it in the middle of the plate and not over any of the ingredients, allowing the diner to add as much or as little of the sauce to their food as they desired.

As much as I really enjoyed the Whipped Chocolate Pudding, I did not make it as a dessert for this meal.  I will make that another time when I have dessert loving people around to help me enjoy it.

So, overall, I would definitely cook this meal again.  It was a bit time consuming since the sauce takes about an hour and a half, as does the chicken, but it was a really good meal.

The cost?  Well, I spent $5 at the farmers market, but picked up potatoes for two days worth of meals, garlic, a red and green pepper, the two squash, an onion (which I only used a very small part of) and two carrots (again, only using a small part of one carrot).  Wegmans came in handy for everything else.  With the chicken, broth, Madeira, butter and beer (only using a half a can), the total meal for the two of us, with some leftovers, cost about $30.00.

Dinner at Shields Tavern, Williamsburg, Part I

I loved Williamsburg!  While there, we took the time to eat dinner at two of the historical taverns.  The first one we ate at was King's Arm Tavern.  A wonderful experience that I will write about later.  The second one we ate dinner at was Shields Tavern.  You can check out their website here: http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/visit/diningExperience/shields/index.cfm.

Our reservations were at 5:45pm.  We arrived about 15 minutes early and were seated right away.  We sat downstairs in a room that was at the very end of the tavern.  I believe the kitchen was directly behind us, but they did a great job of hiding that from us (except when people like me do a little bit of snooping).  There was not much decor in the room we were in except for the candle on our table, which was lit.  In fact, there were no electric lights, so had the sun set, I think we would have had a wonderful dinner by candlelight.  But, in August at 5:45pm, there is still plenty of sunlight.  The building did have A/C, which was nice... it was so hot and humid outside that after walking around all day our clothes just seemed damp.  Since they use the older style panes of glass in the windows, there was condensation on the outside due to the high humidity.  That was a neat effect on the windows.

We did not start our meal with an appetizer.  I'll be honest, I don't remember what Darryl had for dinner, so I'm not going to write about that.  I enjoyed the Barnyard Chicken.  It was a half chicken that was roasted with herbs and served with a Madeira sauce over tavern potatoes and vegetable of the day.  The vegetable was yellow and green squash.  My chicken was perfect!  I am a fan of dark meat over the white meat, so I started with the leg and thigh.  The skin was crisp and had the flavor of thyme, rosemary, and garlic.  There was also a spicy kick to it, but I'm not sure which pepper it was.  Did not taste like black peppercorn, more like a cayenne.  It did have salt and black pepper as well.  You could taste the seasoning in the meat as well, and the meat was perfectly moist.  The Madeira sauce was very good.  It was not quite as thick as a gravy, so it did not have a heavy overbearing presence.  It was there as a background flavor that worked nicely.  You could pick up hints of onion and carrot in the sauce. 

As I'm sure I've said before, I'm not a big veggie fan.  Admittedly, I only had a few bites of the squash, just enough to see that they were nice and soft and well flavored with salt and pepper.  The simple flavors let the taste of the vegetable shine through.  I did enjoy the few bites I took.

My potatoes seemed to be the only problem.  I don't think they were fully cooked.  They were small red potatoes that had been cut into wedges and then roasted with simple flavoring of salt, pepper and oil or butter.  The Madeira sauce was poured over them as well.  They still had a bit of a crunch to them.  They were still edible and did still taste good.  I did not complain or send my dish back.  Darryl had the same potatoes and his were done perfectly.

You can't go to a nice place like this without having dessert.  I had the Whipped Chocolate Pudding.  It was wonderful.  It was more like a mouse the way it was whipped until light and fluffy.  The whipped cream on top was a perfect balance to the more semi-sweet chocolate underneath.  I think I also picked up a hint of cinnamon in the pudding as well.  There is a special sipping chocolate (hot chocolate) that was served in the reproduction of the colonial coffeehouse... it had a similar taste.  I should have purchased the mix while I was there and perhaps I could describe the taste better.  It was not as sweet as the hot chocolate we drink today.  I rather enjoyed it!

Since this is a historic attraction, in a tourist destination, you can expect to pay tourist prices.  Dinner was quite pricey.  My main course was $25.50 (not including tip or tax).  I'll let you know what I spend to recreate it in my Part II post.  Overall I did not mind spending the money on the meal.  The money goes back into Colonial Williamsburg and their ongoing efforts of presenting history. 

I would go back to this restaurant again.  In fact, I did.  Actually, we had lunch there earlier that day.  I had a really great turkey, swiss and bacon sandwich (hold the lettuce and tomato please) that came with fried tavern potatoes (that were perfectly cooked).  It was a fresh turkey breast, so I will work on recreating that meal again soon.  And I'll tell you about the meal at that time.