Patrick O’Connell’s ‘Magnificent Obsession’

Two bastions of luxurious living came together on April 20 as chef Patrick O’Connell launched his newest book “The Inn at Little Washington: A Magnificent Obsession” at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens. Joyce Conwy Evans, the British “fairy godmother” and interior designer of the inn, was the guest of honor. One guest quipped that Evans had only two clients: O’Connell and the queen. “Too much is just right,” said O’Connell, who thanked Ellen MacNeille Charles, Hillwood board president emerita, and Hillwood President Nancy Appleby. (Charles is the granddaughter of Marjorie Merriweather Post, who bought Hillwood in 1955 and then turned it into a museum.) The Inn at Little Washington’s legendary cuisine was well represented with lobster and caviar.