History drives menus that are constantly refined at Colonial Williamsburg.

Since my last visit to Williamsburg, Virginia, five years ago, there have been the usual new openings, closings and revamping of restaurants in town, especially in Colonial Williamsburg, which, with 301 acres, rightfully is called America’s largest “living museum” and a long-time fixture on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Built on the original foundations of the 1699 settlement, what now exists is either a restoration or recreation, and historic attention has been applied to many of the dining taverns on the property, much of whose provender comes from on-premises gardens that surround them. Among these are Chowning’s Tavern (temporarily closed), Christiana Campbell’s Tavern (open Tues.-Sat. for dinner), where you may sample cod in the Dutch manner ($15); seafood “pye” ($49); and a recipe for fried fish from Thomas Jefferson’s personal cookbook ($36). Shields Tavern is an events space.

King’s Arms Tavern (lunch daily, dinner Thurs.-Mon.) was originally opened by Jane Volbe in 1772, and its restoration is highly detailed in colonial fabrics, furniture and pewter. I had a wonderful meal at King’s Arms, while chatting with chefs Ivey Boyd and Naomi Jarmond, that began with a superb, creamy seafood chowder ($8 or $12) and hearty Brunswick stew ($8 or $12), a very old dish made with fowl, beef, corn and lima beans. Welsh rarebit ($9), once a staple of American menus is now rare indeed, but the version at King’s Tavern ($9) makes you wonder why: It is what used to be called a “savoury,” made with melted cheddar cheese, mustard and wine, served with country ham and moist cornbread.

A twist on old-fashioned corn pudding was its presence mixed with tender Carolina rice, black-eyed peas and country ham ($13). The Virginia pork BBQ ($21) is very true to form in these parts, slowly smoked over applewood and served with cole slaw and wheaten manchet bread, a flat loaf that dates to the Middle Ages. The desserts ($8) are every bit as good and, in their modern presentations, quite beautiful and big enough to be shared, including Jefferson bread pudding with bourbon custard sauce and southern pecan pie that is not so achingly sweet as some versions and much nuttier in flavor. You may also want to try the house punch ($14) made with rum, ginger bitters and ginger ale.

You’ll find culinary references at most of Colonial Williamsburg’s dining facilities, but the non-tavern restaurants are more contemporary in their menus. Upon arrival I was famished, and fortunately Traditions in the Williamsburg Lodge was serving an extensive brunch ($39.95, $18 for children) that ranged from scrambled eggs and both cold and hot smoked salmon to carved roast beef with buttered mashed potatoes. I was so happy to find southern biscuits with a rich cream gravy, which no one ever gets right in the north, and they went very well with some very crisp, very moist fried chicken. With a well-spiked bloody Mary (or was it two?) the meal fortified me for a memory lane walk around the property, where I spotted new additions like the windmill.

I checked into the splendid Williamsburg Inn, its gracious lobby festooned with pink roses and overlooking the golf course. Check-in took some minutes more than anticipated. but my room was quite beautiful, quiet and had a view of the period buildings beyond. The room’s furnishings are very much in a period style that Colonial Williamsburg made famous from its inception in the 1930s—some furniture and fabrics familiar to me since childhood when my mother decorated our house with them.

After a relaxing treatment in the beautiful new spa, I dressed and went to dinner at The Terrace, set within the Inn. There is a fairly lively room off the bar lounge with a more staid adjacent room with French windows, fine wallpaper and elegant settings. Here I sipped a cocktail while enjoying a huge summer chopped salad made with cucumber, quinoa, heirloom tomatoes, feta, arugula, corn and a basil buttermilk dressing with a semolina tuile ($16).

The only reason I didn’t finish every bite was because I needed the appetite for a main course of juniper-and-ginger-scented rabbit ($34), again a very large portion, served over a hill of beet-colored pappardelle and a citrus carrot puree with snowpeas and marinated blackberries. For dessert the s’mores ($14) were a sumptuous improvement on the old campfire favorite, here done with chocolate bavarois, Graham cracker streusel, marshmallow fluff and cayenne-flecked Caramel shard with cacao nibs and aerated chocolate.