Love that Traveled the World: A Valentine's Night at Belmont
The historic home and studio is hosting its first Valentine's Day Dinner, honoring the Melchers' love story and spirit of hospitality.
By Hailey Zeller
REPORTER
They traveled the world together, through cities and countryside, galleries and gardens, always returning to one another. Gari Melchers and his wife, Corinne, weren’t just partners in art, but in life.
In their later years, they chose Belmont, a historic estate in Falmouth, as the place to come home to in 1916.
Here, among rolling lawns and quiet woods, their lives slowed into something steady and warm. Friends and guests passed through their doors often. Meals stretched into long evenings. Laughter and conversation filled the rooms. Gari and Corinne were known not just for their art, but for their hospitality, but for making people feel seen, welcomed, and at ease.
That spirit is the heartbeat of Belmont’s first Valentine’s Day Dinner, which will be held on Saturday, February 14.
The historic estate will become more than a museum. It will becomes a living memory, an evening shaped by love, art, and intentional gathering.
As guests arrive at the Pavilion, winter fades into candlelight. The landscaped grounds and wooded paths frame the night like a painting. Inside, the space feels intimate and elegant. Live music drifts through the room. The pace softens. The outside world loosens its grip.
In addition to dinner, guests are invited to wander the galleries and studio where Gari Melchers once worked and displayed his paintings. You move quietly through the space, art on the walls, someone you care about beside you. Time suddenly feels generous.
Then, the table.
The first tastes arrive like introductions: small, artful, inviting. A warm corn tart. A delicate prawn brushed with citrus and caper. Fig and brie crostini with a touch of heat.
The salad course brings color and contrast: greens and endive layered with poached pear and goat cheese, brightened by champagne vinaigrette.
Then comes the heart of the meal: a Land & Sea pairing of grilled beef medallions with pinot demi and a pan-seared lump crab cake with red pepper aioli, resting on potato fondant and braised baby vegetables. Rich, balanced, unhurried.
A vegetarian option of roasted acorn squash with Israeli couscous and mushroom ragú offers the same warmth in a quieter key.
And then the final note: layered red velvet cake with coffee and tea, as the night settles into something you don’t want to rush.
This is not a dinner you hurry through.
The Valentine’s Day Dinner at Belmont is inspired by the love and hospitality of Gari and Corinne Melchers, and carried forward by a museum that still believes in welcoming people fully, beautifully, and with intention.
With two seatings at 2 and 6 p.m., the evening offers a rare chance to celebrate Valentine’s Day not with noise or novelty, but with presence. With art. With food. With someone you choose again.
Tickets include gallery access, live music, the five-course gourmet dinner, and a complimentary bottle of wine per table.
Because love doesn’t need to be rushed.
And some nights are meant to be remembered.
The Gari Melchers Home and Studio at Belmont is owned by the state of Virginia and administered by the University of Mary Washington. More information about the Valentine’s Day dinner and tickets are available here.
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The red pepper aioli pairing with that crab cake is clever. I did something simlar at a dinner party and the acidity from the red pepper really cuts through the richness without overpowering the delicate crab. What's really cool here is tying food to the Melchers' hospitality legacy instead of just calling it a valentine's thing.