100 Very Best Restaurants 2013: L’Auberge Provençale

It’s all about romance at this 260-year-old inn that could as easily be in the French countryside as in the Shenandoah Valley. Which is why on any given night couples are celebrating—anniversaries, first dates, post-baby and empty-nest getaways. Low-lit dining rooms brightened with Provençal fabrics are tailor-made for lingering gazes and flirty conversation. And chef Scott Myers’s food is of-the-moment without distracting from the moon-and-June mood. He has good ingredients to play with—owners Alain and Celeste Borel maintain their own orchards and vegetable garden. Gifts abound throughout the evening, from a mini-plate of duck ham with bacon-potato hash as an amuse-bouche to melt-in-the-mouth macarons to feed each other after dessert. In summer, the circular dining room is the airiest and has the best view of the pastoral splendor outside, but in winter the Blue Room, with its roaring fire, is the place to be. Don’t miss: Foie gras with wasabi popcorn; caramelized cauliflower soup; pork belly with chorizo cream; root-vegetable risotto; Adventures in Coffee dessert; Winter Passion dessert. Open: Wednesday through Monday for dinner. Very expensive.