View allAll Photos Tagged toothsome
As for Jim, does it look like he was enjoying his Carbonara? He sure was.
As I say, I'm trying to cut back on my habit of photo'ing every meal we eat on our trips, but I'm glad I recorded this one for posterity. So all in all, atmosphere was lovely, staff could not have been more courtly or hospitable (but not in a phony way), sangria was delish (though I switched to a dry wine with my veal), and the food was perfect for us. Big thumbs up!
29187 Eating and Drinking at Jamestown – Jamestown National Historic Site, 1368 Colonial Parkway, Jamestown, James City, Virginia. April 29, 2025. Decimal degrees: 37.211680, -76.778062, GPS: N37 12.701, W 76 46.684
“Eating and Drinking at Jamestown Eating and Drinking at Jamestown”
“{The Indian} manner of trading is for copper, beads, and such like, for which they give such commodities as they have, as skins, foule, flesh, and their Country Corne. But their victuals are their chiefest riches.’ – John Smith”
“The early colonists may have endured bouts of starvation, such as the famous Starving Time of 1609-10, but archaeology had revealed that they also enjoyed a diet of imported food and drink as well as foodstuffs acquired in Virginia.
Provisions from England
The Virginia Company expected their colony to become self-sufficient fairly quickly. Initially the colonists traded goods such as copper, beads, and iron tools with the Indians who supplied food in exchange. These victuals were supplemented by occasional supplies from England.
Anaglses of the animal bones found in the fort show evidence of beef and pork that had been prepared and barreled up in England. Some glass and ceramic vessels found during archaeology also suggest that supplies of butter, salted fish, beer, wine, and spirits were sent to Jamestown.”
“Local Food”
“Corn was important to the survival of everyone living in Virginia in the early 17th century was the most common foodstuff supplied by the Virginia Indians. By studying the colonists’ food remains, archaeologists known that a whole range of local mammals, reptiles, birds, fish and shellfish were also eaten. These included some animals that we don’t usually eat today such as bottle-nosed dolphins, sharks, whales, turtles, snakes, herons, eagles, crows, skunks, cats, dogs, and horses.”
Under hand upper right corner:
“Copper objects and beads were the ‘coins’ of early Jamestown.”
Below left upper photograph:
“Shipping containers found at Jamestown included English earthenware jars for salted fish and glass square-sided bottles for alcoholic beverages.”
Artifacts in center:
“Charred corn cob”
Beside turtle:
“Sea Turtle and Sturgeon paintings by John White, ca. 1585 – British Museum”
Beside modeled turtle:
“The colonists described sea turtles as very ‘toothsome’ meat.”
“Eastern oyster, (Crassostrea virginica)”
In upper bottom photographs:
1 “Butchered horse remains”
2 “Powhatan Indian pot”
3 “Over 60,000 oyster shells were found in ac. 1610 well”
4 “German stoneware Bartmann jug for beer or wine”
I could happily have just waded my way through the entire roster of antipasti, sampling one of everything, but finally chose the spinach salad, which was super-delicious. I enjoyed the restaurant's house white sangria, too. My husband went for the calamari -- entirely predictable, since if he spots calamari on a menu, his eyes bizarrely lose their ability to focus on anything else on the list. He's a medical phenomenon.... Anyway, he enjoyed his at Al Dente.
I went for a ring candle and the pink cherry color and scent. It’s a lovely big candle which will burn away for ages – it smells really sweet in the jar, but it’s not at all overpowering when it’s burning – in fact I can’t really smell it much at all unless I get really close, and I wouldn’t mind it being a bit stronger when lit. Other than that it's a great quality candle which burns cleanly and evenly and it seems like it's going to last me for ages. The sweet cake candle contains a toothsome vanilla scent, and i am giving it away at the top of this post!