Courtesy Chas Schwartz & Son
Call him the pontiff of pastry; the high bishop of buerre blanc.
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At the Mellon Auditorium Wednesday night, during the star-studded gala for the Inn at Little Washington’s 30th anniversary, local jeweler Chas Schwartz & Son surprised the Inn’s Chef/Owner Patrick O’Connell with a gift fit for the Holy See.
During the opening, uber-private reception for big donors to international relief charity Five & Alive, the jeweler gave O’Connell what one source called “the heaviest gold ring imaginable.” Apparently inspired by Pope Benedict XVI’s visit, the custom-created ring has the crest of the Inn on the front, and inside it’s engraved with phrase “The Pope of American Cuisine.”
There was talk of having mock altar boys present the ring to O’Connell, but at the last minute, Inn brass thought better of it, not wanting to appear blasphemous.
