All Aboard for Claire’s At The Depot

All Aboard for Claire’s At The Depot

Claire Lamborne, as in Claire’s at the Depot in Warrenton.

Photo by Sunny Reynolds

By Jodi Nash

Food idioms are ubiquitous in American language. So if you’re in a pickle and want to live high on the hog, go bananas and make it easy as pie by treating yourself to a memorable meal at Claire’s at the Depot in Warrenton.

The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

Claire Lamborne, the creative genius behind this charming dining destination, didn’t start out with culinary aspirations. The second of eight children and born in Alexandria, discussions in her home were about local and national politics, not food.

Claire’s famous she-crab soup remains a favorite, and in summer, her fresh sea bass is served with a “slightly southern flair,” with creamed corn, mustard greens, and light crispy hushpuppies. In winter, try the stuffed pork chop with a maple glaze, sweet potatoes, and braised red cabbage.

When her father died at 43, her mother, Nora, became the sole supporter, and Claire stepped up to cook for the family and help raise her younger siblings. Nora, then director of the Retail Merchants Association, ran successfully for Alexandria’s City Council, the first female council person and vice mayor. She broke glass ceilings and was a champion of underdogs, serving as a vivid example of independence and self-reliance for Claire.

A graduate of Washington’s Trinity College, Claire taught school for 14 years in Charlottesville and Fairfax. Married, with two young sons, she made a fortuitous visit one summer to the Caribbean island of Tortolla, helping a friend run an intimate eatery on Jost Van Dyke, discovering the tandem joys of cooking and island life. After a short time back in the States, she returned to the Caribbean and started fresh.

Arriving in St. Thomas at age 36, Claire, a talented seamstress, brought along her commercial sewing machine, purchased a sailboat to live on, and launched into the “canvas business,” doing sail repairs, and making boat awnings. She stayed for three seasons, gravitating into restaurant work at a big island party bar and patio restaurant, with a small kitchen. “I knew then it was my next career” she recalled.

Returning to Virginia, she took an intensive summer course at L’Academy de Cuisine in Bethesda, then made an entrepreneurial jump with the purchase of a small restaurant in Charlottesville “where I made every mistake a first-time owner makes.”

From there it was on to San Francisco, where she helped friends open a new café, then headed back east to work for several Northern Virginia restaurants. With true culinary chops now, she returned to Charlottesville to become chef at the “Ivy Inn,” then an upscale fine dining destination.

Destiny intervened again, when Claire answered a Washington Post ad for a restaurant consultant. She came to Warrenton to help open “Legends,” where she designed the menu, was the first chef and trained the staff. Then it was on to Marshall Manor, an assisted living facility, where she worked with a dietician to prepare nutritious meals for elderly residents.

When the facility closed, management let her use their large commercial kitchen, so she started a catering business? Claire’s Catering operated for over ten years, developing a sterling reputation and clientele. She eventually bought a house on Winchester Street in Warrenton, installing a commercial kitchen in the basement and living on the top floor.

At age 61, Claire decided “I had one more adventure left in me.”

With financing from a local bank, she bought the old train depot, opening Claire’s on Feb. 3, 2004. Her attention to detail, and years of eclectic restaurant adventure have led to sweet success.

The adrenaline rush she got as a young line chef has given way to her innovative role in design of the seasonally focused menu, changing the way food is “plated,” and keeping a watchful eye over the staff and servers.

Claire’s famous she-crab soup remains a favorite, and in summer, her fresh sea bass is served with a “slightly southern flair,” with creamed corn, mustard greens, and light crispy hushpuppies. In winter, try the stuffed pork chop with a maple glaze, sweet potatoes, and braised red cabbage.

Claire remains a spring chicken at heart, not to mention a treasured friend to her patrons One last foodie idiom: Claire’s at the Depot is clearly the cream of the crop.