This entry has taken me a while to post so I apologize for the delay. It was something we planned for almost 3 months! Our dear friend and intern Sofia is leaving back to Portugal and so we wanted to do something special together before she left New York. We, all being foodies, agreed that a trip to Blue Hill Stone Barns was in order. It's about an hour drive from the city in a place called Tarrytown. We decided to do lunch, which is a 4 course menu, because the price is good and it was easier to book than dinner. They typically fill up month in advance.
It was truly an unique eating experience. The menu is unknown and is dictated both by the season and the choice of the chef. The chef designs the menu each table's menu uniquely. So what is fascinating is that you might be eating something completely different than the table next to you. It was wonderful! The service is impeccable and the food of course is nothing short of amazing and very very fresh. Inside the menu there's a list of all the fresh ingredients that day and your menu could be composed on any of them.
I haven't shown all the dishes but it give you an idea of the experience. We began with cocktails, which we just couldn't resist. They were all so unique and wonderful. I tried a their margarita which was made with "sorel", which is apparently a very under-appreciated herb, the server explained. She is brought me a taste of the pure sorel juice to sample. Frances had a dry martini with pickled ramps which was also so special.
We began with some great little starters, the one shown here was a lovely asparagus soup with vegetable marmalade that you spread onto a warm sweet brioche. Then there was this poached egg, which was served in this beautiful glass and almost made me think of "chawan-mushi" which is one of my favourite japanese dishes. There were lovely little mushrooms, vegetables, and nuts even inside this half-cooked egg dish which was sealed with rice paper infused with flowers. It was so beautiful and fun to stab into. The main dish was a really great pork dish, thinly sliced organic pork with a curry lentil sauce. It was the perfect consistency and balance of flavours. We all finished every last drop of sauce! We ended on a wonderful cheese plate, featuring locally-made cheeses. The dessert was great, fromage blanc ice cream and rhubarb with fried ricotta dumplings! I'm a big fan of slightly savory desserts.
The farm itself is so beautiful and well kept and the restaurant is located inside this square. There is a small café and another gift shop where you can buy fresh eggs and local products from Blue Hill. The concept is that all or most of the food served in the restaurant is all grown on the farm. The vegetables, the cheese, the meat, everything! I think the only things they bring in is seafood. So it's wonderful to go visit the greenhouse and the animals in the farm. We had such a wonderful time. I can't wait to go back for dinner!
Blue Hill at Stone Barns
bluehillfarm.com
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
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