Chefs
At Age 74, Patrick O’Connell is Seizing the Restaurant World’s Spotlight
February 5, 2020
Patrick O’Connell is laughing.
It’s a laugh like no other—jocular yet precise. When he emits it, his head tips back, then forward, with metronomic steadiness. The Laugh is hearty, joyous, and slightly exaggerated—appreciable from great distances. A stage laugh.
In 2018, the Laugh was on display at The Welcome Conference—an annual TED-like summit for the hospitality trade—for which O’Connell, proprietor of the landmark The Inn at Little Washington...