Andrew Pearson is Virginia born and bred, and always thought he would return to his home state one day. When the COVID shutdown found him and his family quarantined in Birmingham, Alabama, he decided it was time. “I’ve always had my Virginia bag packed,” he says, and soon the family had bought a farm between Gordonsville and Cismont.
Soon after, on a stroll through Gordonsville, Pearson passed the recently closed Restaurant Rochambeau, once a highly regarded draw for the town. “I looked in and saw the tables were still set,” he says. “Everyone here wanted the restaurant to reopen.” With a background in hospitality as well as farming—while he was growing up, his family owned an inn that his grandmother ran—Pearson had a conversation with the restaurant’s owners.
“I expected a long discussion,” Pearson admits, “but within 10 minutes Jacqueline Gupton and her husband said okay.” His new restaurant opened a month later, in August 2023, under a new name: Près des Prés, meaning “near the meadows” (the Pearsons’ farm is called The Meadows).
Pearson was drawn to the idea of bringing fine French dining back to the Main Street site of Rochambeau and its nationally known predecessor, Pomme. While many people may think French dining features stereotypical French dishes, he says, “French cooking is more about ingredients and techniques.” Beyond that, he was really excited at the prospect of “doing something good for Gordonsville and the wider community.”
Luckily for his suddenly short timeline, Pearson found the perfect chef close to home. Abby Duck, a graduate of Johnson & Wales University’s noted culinary program, had worked her way up to chef du cuisine at the Tasting Counter outside Boston, and when she decided to move closer to her family in this area, she was his first choice to help him launch the new venture.
When it comes to preparing French food, Duck says she starts “with what I would like to eat, and then make it French. I like to use lesser-known French ingredients, things that people aren’t as familiar with.” Working from a list of seasonal vegetables, Duck designs each month’s menu to include three vegetarian dishes and three protein-based dishes. She looks for ingredients from the area (including from the Pearsons’ farm and garden), and is working on building relationships with local suppliers. For now, Duck makes every dish from scratch, including the desserts: “I do all the baking, except the bread—that’s from Albemarle Baking Company.”
For now, Près des Prés is open for dinner Wednesdays through Saturdays. Service is limited to 10 tables or a maximum of 26 guests, with a three-course prix fixe menu of the month posted on the restaurant’s website. As an example of Duck’s mix of tradition and originality, November’s menu featured pistachio soup with squash, crème fraîche, and tuile or Brussels sprouts with yam, lemon, Dijon, and blood orange as starters, followed by fresh spaghetti with yuzu, chive, sea urchin roe, and cream or pommes darphin with chili oil, crème fraiche, and watercress. Entrées were scallops with risotto, hazelnut, sage, and pomegranate, or venison with sunchoke, green peppercorns, and broccoli rabe.
“We want dining here to be an experience,” says Pearson—but not the intimidating one some people associate with fine French cuisine. The restaurant still looks much like Rochambeau, warm and inviting, a place you want to linger over a meal. Families are welcome, says Pearson, who makes sure to be a visible host.
Reactions from patrons have been very positive, says the new restaurateur: “It’s a real honor to have people come from D.C., Fredericksburg, and Richmond. We even had a couple come here as their honeymoon treat.” In response to that positive interest, the restaurant will be open for one Sunday this year, on December 31, for a special five-course New Year’s Eve tasting menu.
But Pearson also wants Près des Prés to be a gathering point for locals, and he hopes to be open more days as the business settles in, and wants more people to stop by the restaurant’s bar (open from 5 to 9 every night the restaurant is open). Duck’s bar menu includes crêpes, frites, and French onion soup (naturellement!), as well as desserts and a grazing board. A recent addition is the newest gourmet treat: artisan tinned fish. It goes very well with Champagne.