Harrimans Grill at the Salamander Middleburg, one of Northern Virginia Magazine’s 50 Best Restaurants of 2025, has a new chef. In an interview, Bin Lu shares how he finds culinary inspiration and how thoughtful menu tweaks can enrich the dining experience.
What’s your most exciting recent culinary discovery?
I’m always game for new things. Just a couple days ago I took some of the cooks that I have on staff to Sunnyside Farm [& Conservancy in Washington, Virginia]. They had a whole field planted with buckwheat flowers and the leaves. And I told them, “Hey, if you want to make an extra buck, I can try and do something with them.” They have a pretty mild flavor, kind of nutty.
How are you transforming the menu at Harrimans?
It hasn’t been big, dramatic things. Redesigning the Caesar salad that was here before, that’s something that I put on [the menu] pretty early after I started. The guests love it. The staff loves it, and I really can’t see that coming off [the menu] anytime soon.
It’s not always about big, flashy fireworks. It’s not romaine lettuce for the Caesar. There’s Castelfranco radicchio, there’s baby gem lettuce, there’s red endive. So, when you get the plate, it’s a lot of different colors, a lot of really beautiful, crunchy, fresh, young greens in a really delicious Caesar dressing.
Then there’s a five-year aged Parmesan. Instead of croutons, we’re doing just toasted breadcrumbs. So, you get a really fine dispersion over the whole dish, but you get even bites throughout, and it’s a really pleasant crunch rather than hard knobs of croutons here and there. We also add fresh apple. It’s just for a little bit of a sweet touch as well.
What are some of the best restaurants in Northern Virginia?
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to try that many, just because [of] the hours at restaurants. I have been able to try Field & Main. I’ve known Neal [Wavra] for a long time, and am a really big fan of what he’s been able to do out there. [The] Whole Ox in Marshall is great as well.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Feature image of Bin Lu by Michael Butcher
This story originally ran in our November issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
