Sumac's Spring Menu at Pen Druid: Ramps, Morels & More

Sumac Brings Peak Spring Flavors to Pen Druid Brewing This Weekend

If you've been waiting for the right moment to experience Sumac — the wood-fired, farm-rooted kitchen that earned a spot on America's top 50 restaurants list — this weekend in Sperryville may be it. Chef and team are currently running one of their most ingredient-driven menus of the year, leaning hard into the fleeting flavors of Blue Ridge spring: morels, ramps, wild mustard greens, and smoked char.

Sumac operates out of a compact kitchen at Pen Druid Brewing in Sperryville's River District, serving a rotating a la carte menu Thursday through Sunday. This isn't a reservation restaurant — it's first come, first served, with al fresco dining alongside some of the best craft beer in the region. Think of it as fine dining without the formality, in one of Virginia's most scenic small towns.

This Weekend's A La Carte Menu (April 17–19)

The kitchen recently posted its full menu for the April 17–19 weekend, and it reads like a love letter to Piedmont spring:

Sumac Plate — Pickled Radish, Smoked Char, Rugbrod, Smoked Butter, Sweet Pickled Pears
Morel Tartine — Pain Perdu, Ramps, Jimmy Nardello Sauce, Beer Cheese
Wild Mustard Greens — Coal Roasted Potatoes, Grune Sobe, Chilis
Pork Belly — Fermented Oat Fritter, Alliums, Pork Jus
Smoked Apple — Yaupon Custard, Spruce Tips, Bay Leaf, Choux Craquelin

The Morel Tartine is the standout spring dish here: pain perdu — French-style eggy bread — acts as a rich, custardy base for foraged morel mushrooms and ramps, sauced with a Jimmy Nardello pepper preparation and finished with beer cheese. It's the kind of dish that exists for exactly three or four weeks a year, and only if you show up for it.

The Sumac Plate is a recurring signature, anchored this season by smoked char (a trout-family fish) on dense Danish rugbrod with smoked butter — a Nordic-meets-Appalachian combination that showcases Sumac's knack for unexpected regional pairings. Sweet pickled pears and pickled radish cut through the smoke with brightness.

Wild Greens, Coal-Roasted Roots, and a Dessert Worth Saving Room For

The Wild Mustard Greens plate is a study in simplicity: coal-roasted potatoes, a tangy grune sobe (green sauce), and chilis. It's vegetable cookery at its most honest — the kind of dish that converts skeptics. For meat eaters, the Pork Belly with fermented oat fritter and alliums delivers the richness you'd expect from a wood-fire kitchen operating at this level.

Finish with the Smoked Apple dessert: yaupon custard (made from yaupon holly, a native American tea plant), spruce tips, bay leaf, and choux craquelin. It's a dessert that tastes like the woods in April.

Previous weekend menus also featured a Chevre Cheesecake with Red Wine Sauce and Candied Beet and a Rockfish plate — Sumac's menu rotates weekly, so expect some variation from what's listed above.

Come for the Food, Stay for the Brewery

Pen Druid Brewing is itself a destination: a family-run farmhouse brewery producing unfiltered, unpasteurized ales with an emphasis on wild fermentation. Pair a Sumac plate with a Pen Druid farmhouse ale on the outdoor terrace and you have one of the most complete food-and-drink experiences in Rappahannock County. The venue recently encouraged visitors to come out for "brews, views, and a taste of spring" — and with the Blue Ridge in the background, that's not marketing copy, it's just accurate.

Service is first come, first served — no reservations. Arriving early, especially on Saturday, is strongly advised.

Planning Your Visit

Address: Pen Druid Brewing, Sperryville, VA 22740
April Hours (Sumac kitchen): Friday 2–6pm, Saturday 12–6pm, Sunday 12–6pm
Reservations: No reservations — first come, first served, al fresco
Website: sumac-va.com
Note: Menu rotates weekly. Check their Instagram for the current lineup before you go.

Sumac is recognized as one of America's top 50 restaurants. Weekend menus sell out. If you're planning a Saturday visit, arrive at or before noon.