New market coming to Washington

Residents and workers in the Town of Washington will soon have another place to turn when a hunger pang strikes.

Susan and Alan James, owners of Walnut Hill Farm in Page County, announced Wednesday that they plan to open the Stonyman Gourmet Farmer in the historic Mercantile Store building that housed Sunnyside Market from 2000 until November 2006.

The Stonyman Gourmet Farmer is a Virginia company specializing in cheeses, condiments and savories. It has operated successfully at the Montgomery Farmwomen’s Market serving Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Md., since 2005.

"After experiencing rapid growth at the Bethesda market, we decided Stonyman Gourmet Farmer needed to reach out to our own area," Alan James explained in a press release. "Along with other small farms, we produce and market natural and organic cheeses, meats and fresh produce."

At the Gay Street store, Stonyman’s offerings will extend to prepared foods and ready lunches convenient to the courthouse crowd and other workers and visitors in town. Patrons will also be able to enjoy their food in the Mercantile’s courtyard garden.

The couple are planning a "soft launch" opening for late May.

"Between us," Susan James estimated, "we’ve spent more than 25 years in France and we brought back a taste for French cuisine and the conviction that the best meals are prepared from farm fresh ingredients, bought locally."

Although she lived in France, Susan James' roots are firmly planted in Virginia soil. Her ancestors began farming in Virginia in the early 1700s and she and her husband live in a historic farmhouse in Stonyman.

Perhaps this was the original attraction to the Mercantile Store. The James' press release says, according to records of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the building "is, without hyperbole, one of the most intact early stores in the Chesapeake region."

"We are delighted to see the traditions of our own farms coming together with this superb example of early Virginia commercial enterprise," Susan James said. "We look forward to welcoming the residents of Washington, Virginia, and our Rappahannock County friends and neighbors."

E-mail the reporter at kallen@timespapers.com.