Culinary Faces: Chef Tarver King, The Ashby Inn in Paris, Virginia

text by Tanner Latham

Tarver King’s giddy personality and infectious laugh are as attractive as his imaginative cuisine. His food will engage all your senses. For example, thin curls of smoke rising from a burning leaf on the plate signals the essence of Fall; a nearby diner loudly crunching a tapioca starch cracker sparks curiosity and conversation.

Tarver staged at The French Laundry, Philadelphia’s La Bec Fin, The Inn at Little Washington in Virginia, and The Fat Duck in London. At the ripe old age of 27, he served as the executive chef at the 5 Star/5 Diamond Woodlands Inn & Restaurant in Summerville, SC.



These days, Tarver helms the restaurant of the Ashby Inn, a charming, 10-room stay anchoring the tiny hamlet of Paris, Virginia.







If you’re anywhere near there, (roughly 60 miles west of Washington, D.C.) do yourself a favor and make a reservation.



Here are five of Tarver's dishes and his own explanations of them.

Flavored Tapioca Starch Crackers
"These are the puffiest, crunchiest, crispiest cracker you could imagine. We made tapioca starch crackers flavored like buffalo wings (infused with Frank’s Hot Sauce...I love Frank's Hot Sauce), curry, salt and vinegar, and dill pickles."


Apple Cider Chestnut Soup
"The soup is infused with smoky cured ham, butter, and onions. It is bright crisp, creamy, and buttery. How do you get the feeling of Fall? Burning leaves. The burning leaf under the bowl instantly transports you to the season."


Grilled Pate de Campagne
"The pate comes with a crispy, crunchy fried egg yolk that cracks and spills out everywhere, and then we have bright, pickled chow chow, which is pickled cabbage and peppers. We wanted to have the herbiness that flies through the whole dish and brings everything into its own, and that was really held together with the nasturtiums that grow right outside in our garden. They have a beautiful flowery element to them."


Mustard-Crusted King Mackerel with Lentils and Smoky Bacon
"The lentils have a beautiful, grainy flavor, and we infuse them with a little bit of sherry vinegar to give them that acid--that brightness to cut through all the fats. We use the mustard crust for that crunchy, crispy texture. The idea behind the presentation is that the mackerel has these beautiful flakes. We just very gently break it to show you the pearly, juicy fish on the inside. So you have a crunchy crust, creamy lentils, smoky bacon, and bright frisee greens."


Panna Cotta
"The idea behind the panna cotta with spice is that by the end of the meal, we want you to feel like you’re moving forward into Winter. We wanted to give you the idea of white snow and evergreen. You get the brightness of cranberries and fennel, which we got from the Vineyard Nursery down the road. I always consider anise a holiday flavor. The dessert has four different forms of fennel: candied fennel seeds, candied fennel bulbs, fennel foam, and then the fennel fronds. You get creamy, sour, bitter, crunchy, and crispy, all at the same time. It’s supposed to give you the idea of a cardinal in the snow with the evergreens."