Chef Ian Boden rocketed into culinary stardom in 2014 when late-great Esquire food critic Joshua Ozersky crowned his newly opened restaurant, The Shack, “The Incredible Restaurant in the Middle of Nowhere That Nobody Knows About.” And now, 11 years later, the two-time James Beard Best Chef semifinalist has done it again—but on a much grander scale.
Maude & The Bear is found in a large, immaculately renovated 1920s Craftsman home surrounded by century-old gardens on the outskirts of artsy and bustling historic downtown Staunton. Visitors enter through a mid-century-themed lounge replete with a working fireplace, cocktail bar, and soft seating leading into a window-lined dining room backed by a beautifully modern, open kitchen. There are restored hardwood floors, walls hung with local art, white tablecloths, candles, and fresh flower arrangements.
Boden, now 46, stands sharply uniformed and bespectacled behind a marble-topped peninsula, tweezering garnishes onto steaming dishes in the glow of retractable brass pendant lights. He’s flanked by a three-person team led by chef de cuisine Matthew Beck, whom Boden recruited from the Michelin-starred Inn at Little Washington.
The casual-upscale atmosphere is cozy, intimate, and inviting. But the cause célèbre is a wildly creative four- or seven-course prix fixe tasting menu that, for Boden’s fans, marks a radical departure from The Shack. There he used modern techniques and hyperlocal ingredients to interpret Appalachia’s melting pot of historic foodways. Here, it’s no holds barred.
Menus often change by the day and feature a whirlwind of influences that range from the Alleghany Mountains to Central America, the Mediterranean, and Japan. You may start with a fermented watermelon and chile punch as an amuse-bouche, paired with a doll-sized bite of beef tartare tucked into spicy nasturtium leaves. Next comes local asparagus with yuzu miso butter, schmaltz-fried breadcrumbs, and pickled Meyer lemons. Later you get a decadent, wood oven-baked king salmon “wing” glazed with sweet potato tare.
Other visits may reveal mains centered on international delicacies like Mexican huitlacoche, Spanish abalone, Galician gooseneck clams, or Indonesian scorpion fish.
“A decade is a long time to stick to one concept, and as I got older, I started getting an itch to break free of the restrictions I’d imposed on myself,” Boden says. He dreamed of a scenario where “I could let my imagination go friggin’ nuts and take things wherever it wanted.”
Boden’s wife, Leslie, encouraged the idea. The couple began casually perusing local properties in 2023 and, when a family friend offered them a deal, leveraged their savings to gamble on a dream. The house was too big for a restaurant alone, so they converted a standalone garage and two upstairs bedrooms into luxe guest suites. The Bodens combined their children’s nicknames to name the new culinary inn.
Stays are paired with dinner, special treats, and a multicourse brunch.
“It was both terrifying and exhilarating to [launch a new project] after so long,” says Boden. “But we weren’t getting any younger and wanted to go for it before it was too late.” And by all measures, the couple has succeeded. Maude & The Bear’s cozy atmosphere and rockstar menu have won it a spot on the James Beard 2025 Best New Restaurant semifinalist list.
Still, Boden says he’s focused on the eaters.
“I’m thrilled we’re in the running, but at the end of the day, I just want to feed people well,” he says. “I’ve worked my ass off and been lucky enough to get to chase a dream—and it’s our guests who make that a possibility.”
