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Downton Abbey-Themed Dinner at Green Park Inn April 18, Period Wines, Food & Music

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The Green Park Inn in the background with the cast of Downton Abbey in the foreground.

By Jesse Wood

The Green Park Inn hosts a Downton Abbey-themed dinner on Saturday, April 18 at 7 p.m.

The historic Blowing Rock inn hosts the themed dinner in conjunction with the Blue Ridge Wine and Food Festival, which takes place April 16 to 19 throughout the village and surrounding areas.

“If you are a Downton Abbey fan than this is the perfect venue. You probably aren’t going to get any closer in the High Country to Downton Abby and the life of the Grantham’s,” General Manager Lorry Mulhern said.

The cocktails will be Downton Abbey themed, and the “menu and evening inspired by the grandeur, elegance and intrigue of the Grantham’s, which are, of course, among the characters in Downton Abbey, a popular British drama set in the early 1900s.

On Saturday, the evening will begin with serving cocktails and Hors D’oeuvres. This will be followed with a five-course dinner, paired with French wines typically enjoyed in the 20th century. Period pieces by the Steve Frank Orchestra will accompany the dinner and dancing is encouraged. Mulhern said the band will begin with Victorian-era waltzes, proceed through the roaring ’20s with some big band-era tunes and likely end by playing beach music to dance to.

The first course includes Welsh rarebit; second course manor salad; third course crab stuffed mushrooms; fourth course jugged pork and herb roasted quail; and fifth course chocolate decadence. See the entire menu here.

Mulhern noted that the restaurants are under new culinary management.

“It will be excellent food and excellent camaraderie,” Mulhern said.

The Green Park Inn, located in Blowing Rock, opened in 1891 and throughout the past years, the Green Park Inn has hosted a who’s who of national figures: Annie Oakley, J.D. Rockefeller, Eleanor Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover and Margaret Mitchell, who penned a portion of her “Gone With the Wind” novel while staying at the hotel.

Aside from a hiatus last year, the Green Park Inn hosted two previous historic-themed dinners. Three years ago, the inn held a Titanic-themed dinner on the 100th year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Mulhern said the chefs created a nine-course dinner that was based on the only two surviving menus. The following year for the anniversary of the publication of The Great Gatsby, the Green Park Inn hosted a similarly-themed dinner set in the roaring ’20s.

“There is not a better venue in the High Country for doing special historic-themed dinners,” Mulhern said.

The event costs $85 per person. RSVP is requested as seating is limited. Casual or period attire is welcome.

For more information, click to www.greenparkinn.com or call 828-414-9230. The Green Park Inn is located at 9239 Valley Blvd. in Blowing Rock.