Blue Hill at Stone Barns

It’s magically delicious.

This was my third foray into the Blue Hill experience. First, at the illustrious Blue Hill at Stone Barns, next @ the Blue Hill in NYC and back again for the winter menu at Stone Barns. The main difference is that time I went with three other couples, instead of just me and N (whose friends all said should be writing this blog, as he is the real foodie, but he will not participate.) Thanks for spending the 3 hour meal with us B, L, J, H, C and E!

The Experience:
When you first pull up to Stone Barns, you realize you are in for an experience. The restaurant is in the middle of an enormous farm. I have been during the day, and suggest it as a nice weekend trip. Stone Barns is a self sustaining farm, which produces all the food for its restaurants. The valet takes your car and you walk into a beautiful courtyard where anyone in their right mind would want to hold a wedding (we saw one there last night, ended at nine, so pretty unusual). The restaurant bar area looks like a hotel bar area to me, with a fireplace, plush chairs surrounded by wooden benches, it is a little stuffy. One of the four greeters comes to take your coats and valet card (so they can call your car when you are paying for dinner). We sat right away once everyone got there and you can tell immediately you are not in NYC. There is enough arm room to move around and you can talk across the table without having to yell. The dining room is decorated simply, dimly lit with a big wooden table in the middle of the room, more for decorating and storage than anything else. Serving our meal were 8 doting men and women. All of our plates for the courses came out together in a grandiose sweep of plates and people. The head server explained what we would be having for that particular course.

The Meal:
Although the five course meal has the main amount of food (bigger portions per serving), we opted for the seven course tasting menu. Before the medley of courses began, we were served a series of amuse-bouche. First we were served a deliciously warm parsnip consume with crackers made of dehydrated parsnip. The second selection was vinegar coated baby carrots, small pieces of cauliflower and edemame, all served on a seemingly home made serving dish. Next came the pancetta wrapped winter vegetable (some sort of root). The piece de resistance was the beet sandwich. The sandwich consisted of a quarter sized sweet pastry puff bun filled with crushed beet and goat cheese. Even though we actually had this same amuse-bouche last time, it stole the show. The sweetness and fluffiness of the tiny bun along with the tart of the cheese and supple homegrown beet was music to my taste buds.

The eight courses begin:

Beet and Fluff Salad with Pine Nut Butter. The combination of the sticky nut butter and the sweet fresh beets were a wonderful start to our very long meal.

Fois Gras (Scallop). Not the best scallop I have ever had, but still nicely done, soft and sweet. I hear the Fois Gras was very good too.

Bread crusted soft boiled egg over lentils.

Bass in vegetable pistou. Pistou sauce, or just pistou, is a cold sauce made from cloves of garlic, fresh basil, and olive oil. I am in love.

Bacon wrapped butternut squash (mushroom gnocchi). When my mushroom gnocchi came to the table, I initially thought it was a plate of mushrooms. In fact, it was very delicate and flavorful pasta.

Venison (yes, I ate this too!). Tender and juicy.

Yogurt/Ice cream in sauce (creamsicle). I do not eat ice cream, but I heard this dish tasted like a creamsicle.

Chocolate cake with ice-cream/fruit and nut cake with ice cream
Second serving of the Chocolate. Everyone at our table was commenting about the fact that we did not all get the same dessert for this course. There were two options and everyone wanted the chocolate. Moments later, the head waiter brought us out four more plates of the chocolate cake! Great treat.

Chocolate, marshmallow, pecan all coated with honey. An amuse bouche dessert. All of the items were on separate dishes. I opted to eat them as a Smore. The honey was a sweet addition.

This is an amazing restaurant for special occasions. The combination of the service and delicious food make it a wonderful overall experience. You just have to be up for the drive. I suggest going in the summer when the vegetables are more plentiful and you can go a bit early and check out the gorgeous self sustaining farm.