Blue Hill is a restaurant in Tarrytown, New York. It is located within a farm called Stone Barns and you need to take a 35 minute train ride out of Manhattan just to reach the small town, and then another 10 minute taxi ride to reach the restaurant. Quite the journey for a Manhattanite! But as they say, the best things in life are worth the effort. While Chef Dan Barber does have a Blue Hill in the city, I feel you have to travel to Stone Barns to get the true experience.
Pulling up to the location, I felt as if I had been transported to the majestic hills of the Napa Valley. The centerpiece of the farm is a courtyard surrounded by 4 tall stone buildings, one of which houses the restaurant and bar. Through the window at the back of the courtyard I could see Chef Barber directing the flow of service, so I knew we were in for a good meal.
As we had arrived early, we enjoyed a round of their specialty cocktails at the bar. A couple of maitre d's came by to speak with us and they learned we worked in the industry and that one of my friends in the group had performed a culinary stage at Blue Hill a year ago. Next thing we know, we are escorted to our table where they had complimentary champagne awaiting us. The dining room is gorgeous, yet simple at the same time. The wooden floors echo the country feel of the place, and a beautiful cherry blossom tree indicated that Spring had arrived.
There is no art on the walls, save for this portrait of the countryside to remind you of where you are. The real art lies on the plates and outside the windows. I appreciated that all the tables were well-spaced out, and each table had plenty of space for the diners and plates. It was a welcome difference from the crammed tables you find in the city, not to mention with a better view.
After the champagne, a series of canapes (hors d'oeuvres) began to arrive at our table. This portion of the meal completely blew us away, as it felt that the food would not stop coming. And the amazing thing is the main emphasis was on simple vegetables and meats sourced from the farm. You might think, "What is so special about a carrot and an asparagus?" The difference lies in the fact that these vegetables are grown naturally and only in season, right outside the walls of the restaurant. In the hands of a talented chef, these simple legumes are transformed into something entirely different than "just a carrot."
Here are some of the canapes we enjoyed,
some of which came from their greenhouse:
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| From Farm, to Table... |
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| Baby Pea Shoots came with a vegetable clipper to clip them off and drag through a vinaigrette |
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| Dehydrated Vegetable Chips |
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| Pork Face Bacon |
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| Celery Shot; Vegetable Crudites on Spikes; Asparagus Mini Burger; Pancetta Wrapped Asparagus with Sesame Seeds |
Around this time the sommelier brought us our first wine: Dr. Burklin Wolf Wachenheimer Rechbachel 1998 Riesling. It perfectly complemented the array of vegetables we had going and was a perfect choice. Lesson learned--always let the sommelier choose the wine for you! He knows how the chef's food will pair with his wines better than you!
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| Egg Lardons |
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| Bresaola with Crispy Polenta Toast |
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| Leek Wrapped Vichysoisse |
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| Hudson Valley Veal Bone Marrow With Lime Zest And Crispy Bacon Bits |
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| Spicy Pork Heart and Liver Pate with Crispy Chocolate Wafers |
This little pate of pork heart and liver between two chocolate wafers was one of the oddest combinations I'd ever heard of, but was one of the absolute most delicious things any of us at the table had ever eaten. The pate simply melted in your mouth and you were left with the crisp chocolate with a hint of spice.
We also enjoyed Whole Fried Anchovy with Spanish Pimenton and Smelt Fish Balls on Farro Toast, not pictured here.
Then, the real meal finally began. The first dish was a very simple salad of herbs grown in the garden. It was beautifully presented on a clear glass dish. I never knew a salad could taste so good without dressing!
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| Spring Herb Garden Salad with Rhubarb and Asparagus |
At this point the sommelier brought over our next wine, a 1998 Morey Saint Denis 1er Cru. Pinot Noir from Burgundy seemed like a perfect choice to enjoy some red wine without it overpowering the food. It was a perfect time to bring out this wine as the next dish was bold in flavor. The chorizo oil and shaved lardon was the perfect complement to the grilled flavors of the vegetables. This dish was very memorable in both presentation and flavor.
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| Grilled Leeks and Asparagus with Chorizo Oil, Egg, Shaved Smoked Lardon and Hazelnut |
Now, you may be thinking, where's the bread service? Isn't bread supposed to be the first thing placed on the table in a basket? Not anymore. There are a few restaurants I've encountered recently where bread service is actually delayed until halfway through the meal. They want you to taste other things instead of filling up on bread. At Blue Hill however, they take bread service into another realm.
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| Red Fife, Spelt, Freekeh, Emmer |
First, the captain brings over an array of four different artisanal grains they use to make their breads. The grains are sourced internationally, as in 99% of the United States it is practically illegal to grow anything other than processed wheat. Where they got these grains, I do not know, but I was shocked to see them. They then bring out a course entirely focused around bread to show you how delicious bread could be.
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| Fife Grain Brioche Toast With Asparagus Puree and Fresh Ricotta Cheese |
The bread tasted almost like banana nut bread, but without any bananas. The asparagus puree and warm fresh ricotta cheese spread on top took it to another level. Simply incredible.
We had a course centered around their farm fresh eggs. This one was slow poached, then breaded and deep fried. It was served over a bed of farro grains and a crispy sweetbread (not pictured) on the side.
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Soft Poached Egg With Crispy Sweetbread |
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Butter from three different cows. Note the variation of colors. |
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| Normal Butter with Carrot and Asparagus Salts and Warm Baked Bread |
No matter how good butter is though, it needs a bit of salt to heighten its flavor. The salt came in the form of homemade carrot and asparagus salts to reflect the season and add some flavor. The bread was served by a food runner off of a large slab with a loaf of fresh bread. The loaf was sliced to order so the bread would not dry out.
The next course was a pasta course made with fresh chicken eggs. Normally, you'd have some freshly grated parmesan cheese to add some show to the pasta's presentation as well as give some some saltiness to the dish. However, what blew our minds here was that they came around with salt preserved immature hen eggs to shave atop the pasta. To explain further, when a hen is killed, it may have some eggs still inside which were not mature enough to be laid. 99% of cooks throw these away. Chef Barber can not throw away anything in his kitchen because he sees firsthand how difficult it is to get something from the farm to the table. So instead he preserves these immature eggs with salt, almost like a ham, until they stiffen up enough to be shaved. To us, this was absolutely genius (and delicious).
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Chicken Egg Pasta with Black Trumpet Mushrooms and Preserved Immature Egg |
With the night quickly drawing to a close, we were confused when they suddenly jumped to our meat course instead of sending out fish. We figured they were cutting the courses to save on time, or simply had no fish available that day. Perhaps it was replaced by the pasta. Either way, they could do almost no wrong at this point. For our main course, we enjoyed Pork Jowl With Romaine Puree, Romaine Hearts, and Charred Salsify. Another creative way to use a part of the animal not normally served. The jowl was incredibly tender and flavorful, coming from organically raised Berkshire pigs right at Blue Hill.
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Pork Jowl With Romaine Puree, Romaine Hearts, Hazelnuts, and Charred Salsify |
We continued with a cheese course, paired with a complimentary beer--Defiant Brewing Company Tripel Belgian Ale, Pearl River, NY. The cheese was paired with fresh Honeycomb and Caramelized Onion Compote.
The first dessert was centered around rhubarb, a cream sorbet, and dehydrated brown butter. I was surprised to see this type of "molecular" cooking at Blue Hill, but then again it shows just how much these concepts are being accepted by chefs worldwide.
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| Rhubarb, Cream Sorbet, and Dehydrated Brown Butter |
To finish off our desserts, the sommelier brought us a complimentary Wachau lightly botrytized dessert wine. It wasn't amazing, but how could we argue with a free wine that gave us our sweet fix and paired with the desserts? It went along with the next dish:
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Grapefruit, White Chocolate, Fennel |
The last dessert of the night was a chocolate mousse with cake and milk foam, followed by small milkshakes, and coffee and teas.
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Sweeteners for the coffee and tea |
We had to catch a train out of Tarrytown back to Manhattan and had about 10 minutes left to catch it. The staff was well aware of our time limit and quickly ushered us out and had a taxi waiting outside for us with directions to go to the train station. Quite impressive service, to say the least. As a matter of fact, Blue Hill at Stone Barns had the best service I have seen at any of the restaurants I have visited yet! This restaurant really brings to question the validity of rating guides and rankings, such as the Michelin Guide and San Pellegrino World's 50 Best list. The food exploded with flavors, and the service was spotless. However, because it is not located within New York City's limits, it is not listed under any of those guides. A bit unfair, in my opinion, and perhaps a sign of how politics play a factor in those systems. Blue Hill, as one writer said, is perhaps the most important restaurant in America for many reasons. After the amazing meal we enjoyed, I can certainly see how.
