Food Culture at Mount Vernon

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Food Culture
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George and Martha Washington welcomed thousands of guests to Mount Vernon in the more than forty years that they lived here. Most of their visitors stayed for meals, enjoying the Washingtons’ famous hospitality and the plentiful food they provided.

Madeira

Madeira

George Washington had an affinity for this fortified wine, produced on the Portuguese island of Madeira in the eastern Atlantic.

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Mrs. Washington's Great Cake

Mrs. Washington's Great Cake

Among Martha Washington's surviving papers is a recipe written out by her granddaughter Martha Parke Custis, which calls for 40 eggs worked into four pounds of butter, four pounds of sugar, five pounds of flour, and an equal quantity of fruit.

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Dine with Us

Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant

Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant

Savor the flavors of early America at the Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant, located just footsteps from George Washington’s historic estate.

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From the Shops

Stone-ground at the Gristmill

Stone-ground at the Gristmill

Treat yourself to stone-ground grits, pancake mix, and yellow cornmeal, produced on-site using 18th century techniques at George Washington’s Gristmill at Mount Vernon.

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What to See

Visit Washington's Distillery & Gristmill

Visit Washington's Distillery & Gristmill

Learn more about the important role these buildings had on the Mount Vernon estate.

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Flour and Grains from the Gristmill

George Washington's merchant gristmill was capable of producing 5,000 to 8,000 pounds of flour and cornmeal a day.

During the 1760s Washington had moved away from tobacco cultivation and began to plant more grains, primarily wheat and corn. The switch to grains gave Washington a dependable cash crop, something tobacco did not provide. With an expanded and more efficient gristmill, Washington could turn his crops into another product, flour or cornmeal.

In 1791, George Washington upgraded his milling operation by installing improvements invented by Oliver Evans. Today, this milling system is faithfully interpreted, fully-functioning, and open to guests seasonally.

visit washington's gristmill

Whiskey and Spirits from the Distillery

In 1799, George Washington's distillery produced nearly 11,000 gallons, making it one of the largest whiskey distilleries in America at the time.

Distilleries were very common in early America. In the 1810 census, there were more than 3,000 distilleries operating in the state of Virginia alone. Washington's distillery was large, measuring 75 x 30 feet (2,250 square feet) while the average distillery was about 20 x 40 feet (800 square feet).

Today, a faithfully reconstructed working distillery produces small-batch spirits on-site and is open to visitors seasonally.

visit washington's distillery

Distilled Spirits from Mount Vernon

Washington was one of the largest whiskey producer in America. Today, we continue the tradition of producing whiskey as well as other small batch distilled spirits at our historic Distillery & Gristmill site. 375ml bottles of the distilled spirits produced at Mount Vernon are available for purchase at the Shops at Mount Vernon.

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