Tanglewood Ordinary in Maidens Marks 40 Years With Cake, Gratitude

Forty years of bowls and platters passing around the table, and Anne and Jim Hardwick plan to mark the milestone the same way they have always run Tanglewood Ordinary: quietly, with good food and a slice of cake.

The Hardwicks will offer a complimentary Celebration Cake to dine-in guests on Friday, May 1, when their western Goochland County restaurant reaches its 40th anniversary. The event is intentionally restrained, meant to reflect the unhurried character of a place that has operated near the community of Maidens on Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday middays for four decades.

Anne Hardwick described what keeps generations of diners returning in terms that could double as the restaurant's founding philosophy: "the kind of meal where everybody gathers, the bowls and platters go around the table, and nobody is in a hurry to leave." That family-style Southern comfort tradition has made Tanglewood a gathering point for Goochland County residents who first visited with their parents and now bring their own children.

Much of that four-decade consistency rests on a small, loyal team. The Hardwicks credited manager Jenifer Ellett, who oversees front-of-house operations and the restaurant's desserts, and longtime kitchen worker James Breeden for anchoring its reputation across the years.

Jim Hardwick addressed Tanglewood's future with characteristic directness: "We are going to continue to love it until it is time for someone to love it more than we do."

The restaurant will keep its regular Friday and Saturday evening and Sunday midday schedule after May 1. The anniversary dinner follows that same format, with the Celebration Cake the only addition to an evening the Hardwicks intend to feel just like any of the 40 years that came before it.