A Post About Poste Roasts

Poste's chef's table, handcrafted with local Virginia stone and sustainable teak wood, is the setting for the restaurant's new "Poste Roasts" in the courtyard garden.

With the unseasonably gorgeous weather we've been enjoying, I've been looking for every excuse to dine al fresco. So when a food writer friend snagged a reservation for Poste's new roast dinners, I was in faster than you can say spit-roasted pig.

Dinner is served.

At the restaurant's massive stone chef's table, nestled among herb beds and row upon row of shaggy tomato plants in Poste's courtyard, about 12 of us dug into a board piled high with chef Robert Weland's whole roasted suckling pig and juicy grilled peaches and plums, along with sides of macaroni and cheese and tart sauerkraut.

As the sun set and a balmy 70-degree breeze kept us cool, one of the guests, Italian chef Stefano Frigerio, got his hands on a kitchen knife, cracked into the head, and dished out some offal goodness — bites of cheek, tongue and brain — to a few of us.

Of course, you don't have to go that far, but if you'd like a turn at the table, here's how it works: Gather six to 12 friends, reserve the table at least seven days in advance, choose a meat and feast in the gorgeous garden.

You can choose from goat, pig, duck, brisket, lamb, squab, and poussin — all spit-roasted over hickory wood and all sourced from a local farmer. The price is a mere $27 per person — not bad for a custom-roasted animal — excluding dessert and wine. That easily climbs up depending how much you imbibe.

“Poste Roasts” are offered daily except for Thursday evenings (when Weland hosts a market dinner from the Penn Quarter FreshFarm Market). Call 202.449.7062 to book the table, and click here for more info.