Vermilion Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Alexandria

Vermillion - A Culinary Journey Worth Every Penny

Vermillion offers an unforgettable dining experience that expertly balances creativity, comfort, and exceptional flavors. The $75 tasting menu is an incredible value for the amount of thought, skill, and local ingredients packed into each course. From start to finish, every bite was a delight, making it clear that Vermillion is a must-visit.

The meal began with two impressive amuse-bouches: a delicate beef carpaccio and a velvety cauliflower soup—both light, flavorful, and the perfect introduction to the courses ahead.

Next came the appetizers, which were nothing short of spectacular. Bettie’s Buns, Chef Chittum’s grandmother’s old-fashioned yeast rolls, were pillowy soft and served with whipped butter, fennel jam, and pickles. It was a simple yet perfect bite. The Shaved Local Brassicas salad was vibrant, featuring pomegranate, pecans, and bay blue cheese, all dressed in a creamy cider vinaigrette that balanced the sweetness and richness.

The Cornmeal Fried Oysters were wonderfully crisp, paired with sumac red onion, torn dill, and pickled egg gribiche—a perfect combination of textures and flavors. The Kale and Chicory Salad was equally satisfying, with earthy sweet potatoes, sunflower seeds, and a tahini dressing that tied it all together beautifully. The Country Ham Bruschetta was a comforting favorite, with Doe Run Dairy pimento cheese, warm cornbread, and honey—a fantastic, cozy bite. The Heirloom Beet Salad rounded out the savory dishes with earthy beets, black walnuts, and a tangy yogurt green goddess dressing.

For the main course, the New Frontier Bison Short Rib was the highlight. The bison was perfectly tender, complemented by sunchokes “tostones” and a mustard vinaigrette that provided a nice balance of acidity to cut through the richness of the meat.

Throughout the meal, we paired everything with a fantastic White Pinot from Oregon—crisp, refreshing, and an ideal match for the seafood and meats, with just enough acidity to elevate the entire dining experience.

Before dessert, Chef Chittum surprised us with a pre-dessert amuse: a slice of Olive Oil Cake, which was unexpectedly delightful. The cake was moist and fragrant, with a subtle olive oil flavor that was light and refreshing—an elegant segue into the final course.

For dessert, the Warm Apple Cider Cake was the perfect conclusion to this incredible meal. Moist, spiced, and comforting, it was served with whipped cream cheese, candied black walnuts, and frozen custard. The flavors were spot-on, delivering just the right amount of sweetness and richness to end on a high note.

The service was impeccable—attentive without being overbearing—and the pacing of the meal was perfect, allowing us to savor each course without feeling rushed. Each dish showcased the chef’s ability to elevate local ingredients with inventive techniques and bold flavors.

At $75 for all of this, Vermillion offers exceptional value, with food, wine, and service that make it a must-try for anyone in the area. Whether you’re a local or visiting, this is a culinary gem worth experiencing. I’ll be...

If you are coming here on company dime, want to impress someone with an upscale atmosphere and your status, have substituted your profession for your personality, or like pretending to understand food through use of descriptive, pretentious adjectives, this is the perfect place for you!

To everyone else, especially for those who are looking to have a genuinely good culinary experience, save yourself some bucks and have a much better time somewhere else (we ended up going to Murphy's right after, which had live music and was infinitely a better experience!)

Pros: This restaurant has a very nice ambiance for a nice night out The winter beetroot variations were unbelievably good. They were the best beets I have ever had and tasted legitimately like ice cream The puff pastry that came with the maple-roasted chili carrots was perfectly crispy and delightful The Philly Cheesesteak arancini was pretty good!

Cons: We were seated in the dining room menu and handed a menu that offered both prix fixe and a la carte as dining options. However, when we tried ordering a la carte off of the dining room menu, we were told that they were not available a la carte (even though they had a la carte prices next to each one) and were instead handed a different menu. I'm not sure if the server was new or something, but it was a strange experience The maple-chili roasted bolero carrot had maximum 20 grams of carrots on it max. While the puff pastry was good, the carrot was nowhere to be found The crispy chicken thigh sliders were mediocre, good at best. Chicken thigh is pretty hard to make not juicy but somehow, it was done. Maybe the chef just lost all love for cooking? Who knows? Karma Farms radicchio salad was the one of the worst restaurant dishes I have genuinely ever tasted. I am a very non-picky eater who almost always finishes their food but neither of us could genuinely finish this and we were both hungry. The salad was a weird, soggy, bitter mess that did not harmonize with any of the rest of the dish (two sweet potato steak fries and Lunchables-esque ham underneath). It was about as cohesive as a 5th grade band recital and it was all brought together with this overly-wet, bitter, and unpleasant salad. I am not sure what Karma Farms did to deserve this slander and an insult of a dish from you all, but it must've been bad.

All in all, not a great dining experience. We left hungry and unimpressed by everything (except the beets, which we HIGHLY recommend!). We would have liked to spend more and tried more things, but were honestly just so disappointed by this...

We met at Vermilion in Old Town Alexandria this weekend, anticipating a culinary adventure that would live up to the restaurant’s reputation. Opting for the "Farm Table Experience," which seemed promising on paper, we were left underwhelmed by the end of the night.

The concept of family-style dining initially appealed to us, expecting a communal feast to match the cozy atmosphere. However, we soon realized the format leaned more towards benefiting the restaurant's bottom line rather than enhancing the guests’ experience. For a party of four, we were limited to choosing only two items from sections two and three of the menu, which felt restrictive. Our selections—pork and fish—were well-prepared, yet the portions were surprisingly small. Each of us ended up with just a bite or two, leaving us wanting more, both in terms of quantity and variety.

The menu, which started off strong with its creative approach to seasonal ingredients, quickly lost momentum. A pervasive use of nuts throughout the courses felt excessive; in some cases, they were overly salty and seemed out of place, overshadowing the natural flavors of the dishes. While the service was attentive and courteous, the food, though skillfully executed, lacked the “wow” factor that we’ve come to expect from such experiences.

The evening took a further unfortunate turn when one of our group members fell ill and had to rush to the bathroom. Although we don’t believe it was caused by the food at Vermilion, it did put a damper on the night and cut our visit short.

A notable point of frustration was the presentation of the dishes. While we usually relish capturing each course with photos to document our dining experiences, nothing on the table inspired us to reach for our cameras. This was telling; the plating lacked the visual appeal that typically compels one to savor not just the taste but the look of the meal.

Overall, the evening at Vermilion was just okay—nothing more, nothing less. It’s disappointing when a place that shows so much promise on the menu and in concept doesn’t quite deliver in execution. For the price and anticipation, we were left feeling like the experience was more about economic efficiency than culinary...