Company Press Release: Orient-Express Hotels
May 29, 2000
KESWICK, VA -- Check in at the 48-room Keswick Hall at Monticello, located just minutes from the Virginia mountaintop
home of our nation's third president -- an area Thomas Jefferson once called ``the Eden of the United States''
-- and the sense of history is so pervasive that guests say they ``can almost taste it.'' Now they will be able
to do just that. The elegant Orient-Express property has introduced special dinners for four to eight guests that
feature wines from the vineyard that Jefferson asked to be established next to his home, other wines that captivated
him when he was U.S. Ambassador to France (1789), and a selection of cuisine that would have pleased his palate.
The ``Jefferson's Palette'' presentations, arranged upon request, are offered in the property's Library room, served up by wait staff dressed in French-period costumes and accompanied by music of the era. The cost of the dinner for six people is $1,789, excluding tax and gratuity. (A sample menu is attached.)
``As we begin the new millennium with its promise of a bright future, we find that we savor our cherished past even more,'' notes Patrick Blangy, director of sales and marketing for the hotel. ``Guests of Keswick have that opportunity to reflect on those earlier times in luxury and style.''
Owned and operated by Orient-Express Hotels, Keswick Hall at Monticello, with individually decorated and themed guest rooms, offers dining in its elegant terrace-level Ashley Room, and at its Keswick Club that also features an 18-hole, Arnold Palmer-designed signature golf course, indoor/outdoor pool, spa facilities and an open-air pavilion pool and tennis complex. The resort is consistently acknowledged for excellence with innumerable awards. The 1999 Zagat Survey of Hotels, Resorts and Spas, for example, named it the top hotel in Virginia. It is also consistently named among Conde Nast Traveler's list of the ten best small hotels in the U.S.
For more information and reservations, please call Preferred Hotels and Resorts Worldwide at 800-323-7500 or
Keswick Hall at Monticello at 800-274-5391. Additional information is available at http://www.orient-expresshotels.com.
Jefferson's Palette
Chilled poached salmon with sweet pea puree & marinated artichokes
Bollinger Grand Annee 1989
*****
Grilled quail on onion marmalade with golden raisins
Chateau Carbonnieux, Grand Cru 1996
*****
Wild mushroom flan with Virginia ham & poached figs
Emilio Lustau Amontillado Aranda
*****
Tian of jumbo Jump crab with mango & Sauternes jelly
J.J. Prum Riesling Wehlener Sonnener Auslese 1996
*****
Fillet of rockfish with littleneck clams, smoked bacon & sweet potato
dumplings
Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru 'Les Vergers', Domaine Michel Niellon 1997
*****
Roasted loin of rabbit with asparagus & morels
Vincent Girardin Volnay Champans Premier Cru 1997
*****
Roasted rack of veal "cassoulet" with sweetbreads
Chateau Rausan Segla, Margaux 1989
*****
Maytag blue cheese souffle with local greens & port wine reduction
Ramos Pinto Tawny Porto "30 Year Old" Quinta
*****
Feuilletee of apples with Madeira-pecan ice cream
Cossart Gordon Bual Madeira "15 Year"
SOURCE: Orient-Express Hotels