Irvington, VA, population 390, is not the place you'd expect to find a restaurant like Trick Dog Café.

A cross between hot New York and hip San Francisco, this small eatery a three hour-drive south of Washington, DC, looks deceptively Southern Virginia clapboard conventional from the outside. But part the red velvet curtain draped over the doorway and you enter a room lit by four-foot high, mushroom-shaped, red-paper lanterns. Tables are laid with white tablecloths, black napkins and plates etched with the command to "Sit and Stay, " which isn't hard to do.

Chef Joe Merolli, a transplanted New Yorker, offers provocative dishes on a menu that changes daily. For the adventurous palate, recent creations included seared skate wing with Yukon gold potato wafers and sautéed fall vegetables, balsamic brown butter and baby greens. Or for those in the mood for more traditional Northern Neck fare, there are Trick Dog crab cakes served with cheese grit cakes, sautéed vegetables and roasted red pepper sauce. Appetizers include local purveyor Ducktrap Farms' pastrami-smoked salmon with shaved red onion, capers, baby greens, lemon crème fraiche and chives; and grilled Manchester quail with green French lentils, Northern Neck shitakes and lingonberry glace.

Although my starter and main course were on par with many big city restaurants, I judge a restaurant by its desserts, chocolate desserts to be specific, and Trick Dog holds its own against the best. The molten chocolate Godiva cake with chocolate ganache is just as much of a heart stopper as it sounds.

The bar, facing a walled mirror of glass stacked with bottles from top to bottom, was modeled after the famous drinking spot at Miami's Delano Hotel. Try the signature Green Apple Martini, a deceptive concoction the recipe for which owner Bill Westbrook lifted from a New York establishment.

The restaurant is named after a local legend. The story began in 1917 after the Great Fire in Irvington, which destroyed most of the businesses along Steamboat Road. In the basement of the Opera House a local resident found a soot-covered statue of a dog. He took it home and told a friend that it was a trick dog because you didn't have to feed or water it and it would always sit and stay. Bill commissioned a painting, which hangs inside the restaurant that tells the tale. The Trick Dog himself-- polished to a luster--is on display and reputedly brings good luck to those who pet him. The canine theme even follows you into the restrooms where dog obedience tapes play.

Bill, a local land baron, entrepreneur and part-time ad exec, co-owns the eclectic Hope and Glory Inn across the street. He opened the Trick Dog because the inn doesn't serve dinner, and he wanted to offer his guests another dining option in addition to the venerable Tides Inn Resort.

Trick Dog is packed most nights despite entrée prices that average between $18 to $25, probably because the incomes of Irvington residents are decidedly above average. A favorite retirement and weekend spot for the sailing and boating elite, it's populated with doctors, lawyers, politicians and media notables such as former television news anchor Roger Mudd.

After dinner at the Trick Dog and a stroll around this historic waterfront town, you'll understand why residents are compelled not only to sit, but also to stay.

TRICK DOG CAFÉ
4357 Irvington Road, Irvington, VA
804-438-1055; www.trickdogcafe.com
Tuesday through Thursday: 5 p.m.-10 p.m.;
Friday and Saturday: 5 p.m.­11 p.m.;
Sunday brunch: 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

December 2002