OK, I've never done this before, but I'm going to recommend a restaurant--with reservations. It's not that I've got any qualms about suggesting that folks dine at the Inn at Montross, a lovely B&B with five guest rooms on the Northern Neck.

On the contrary. I'd urge people to visit the inn at their earliest convenience. But before setting off on the 45-minute journey from Fredericksburg they ought to think about making dinner reservations--and while they're at it, some room reservations, too.

Because my sense is, when word gets around about the masterful Modern American cuisine chef Cindy Syndergaard and staff deliver each and every Friday and Saturday night, it's going to be tough to get anywhere near the place. And once diners have sampled the deep flavors generated by her fine-dining menu--which changes with the seasons and features locally sourced food--they won't be in a hurry to do much of anything, unless it's to kick their feet up on the inn's inviting porch.

Reviewed, largely favorably, in these pages a little over a year ago--right after it reopened following extensive renovations to the late-18th-century structure that houses it--the inn was due for a reappraisal. The menu has since gone through a couple of cycles, resulting in a kitchen that now has clearly hit its stride.

With its great location, outstanding ambience and unsurpassed service, along with the fabulous food and its striking presentation, the inn is possessed of an embarrassment of riches. Come to think of it, the Inn at Montross reminds me of another B&B, albeit a mythical one--the impossibly charming Dragonfly Inn in Stars Hollow, Conn.--you know, the B&B featured on "Gilmore Girls." (I'm not ashamed of being one of the six or seven men to have actually watched all seven seasons of the classic TV show.)

When my wife and I visited the real-life Inn at Montross on a recent Friday night for dinner, we were treated to out-of-this-world service, including being warmly greeted by everyone--from the hostess to the server to the chef herself. One of the inn's "silent partner" owners even made a point of stopping by our table to ensure our needs were being met, not a difficult thing to do with a menu listing everything from pecan-crusted fried chicken to fresh flounder with grilled local peach salsa.