A renowned Washington-area chef, Armstrong and his team are venturing into the casual dining market with a modern pub grub-styled restaurant that opened Friday in Old Town Alexandria. Dubbed “a grown-up’s playground with good food,” Virtue Feed & Grain — named for the historic granary building it’s in — also features a game room, lots of TVs and even Nintendo Wii stations. What came first? The building or the concept?
Walking through the building started our brains going about what kind of rustic feel a granary would give you. [My wife] Meshelle and I had talked about doing a very casual restaurant like this for years. … It was important to preserve some of the history so throughout the decor of the restaurant you’re going to see some reminders of hay, grain, flour, and feed; [the words will] be stenciled on some of the backs of chairs and cushions. … We also did a lot to recycle and reuse a lot of the materials found within the building.”
Any unusual dishes from your native Ireland on the menu?
We’ve got crubeens, which is a preparation of pig’s feet. Then we have kidneys and red wine, a dish from the James Joyce book, “Ulysses.” The hero makes kidneys for breakfast and it’s described in depth how he prepares it. We have ox tongue salad [and] a steak and kidney pie, which you don’t find too often on menus, but it’s definitely a classic dish.”
Who’s your ideal celebrity diner for Virtue?
I would have to split it between either President Obama or [U2 lead singer] Bono. To the president I’d have to encourage them to eat the shepherd’s pie. When it’s made well, it’s really extraordinary. It’s one of my favorite things to eat. For Bono I think we’d lean more toward American dishes like Buffalo wings and the shrimp cocktail — good American classics.
Liz Farmer
