We Go Hunting for Morels with The Inn at Little Washington’s Patrick O’Connell

“It’s a good thing you’re here, because you might have missed the boat.” Patrick O’Connell, chef/proprietor of The Inn at Little Washington, the celebrated Michelin two-star nestled close to Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, was ready to go. “Today could reach 90 degrees and yesterday was in the 80s. They cannot take heat or dryness.”

The five-time James Beard award winner was talking about morel mushrooms, one of the most...