Härth

By Warren Rojas

Hilton wants to get the home fires roaring in McLean. And they believe Levy Restaurants alumnus Thomas Elder is just the man to do it.

Elder’s cooked up plans for a 120- square-foot, on-site garden poised to produce: raspberries, stevia, assorted herbs, heirloom tomatoes and hot peppers (Ghost pepper-habanero crossings figure prominently in house-made condiments). He also plans to dial up local producers, citing The Organic Butcher as a protein source and eyeing a satellite apiary—2011 goal: harvest 150 pounds of local honey—at Ayrshire Farm.

Meanwhile, Elder discussed deploying organic eggs, cheddar-chive popovers and applewood-smoked bacon jam instead of drab continental breakfasts. “This is a real restaurant,” he stresses. “We just happen to be inside a Hilton.”

Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.

7920 Jones Branch Drive, McLean; 703-847-5000; www.hilton.com

(March 2011)