Farm to table - Blue Hill @ Stone Barns

When I hear the term farm to table, I immediately think of fresh organic food.  But Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Tarrytown, NY takes this concept to a whole different level!

Making a reservation here was a task in and of itself.  Reservation opens 2 months ahead exactly at midnight (for any time during the desired day). I didn’t get my first choice of dining on Saturday night so I stayed up the next night to ensure that I grab the first lunch opening on Sunday (1 pm). 

We drove there on a hot summer Sunday! Driving was easy, took about 1hr from Manhattan. If you don’t have a car, you can take MetroNorth to Tarrytown and grab a taxi from there (12 mins drive).   But let this be an excuse for you to rent a car.

After leaving the car with the valet (or take the next entrance and park at the lot), we walked under an old castle arch and arrived at an open courtyard with the restaurant entrance on the right.

Entrance to the restaurant

We were greeted at the entrance and started our experience at the bar.  Shorts are not allowed and ties/jackets are recommended for men. But why not dress to impress since it is part of the experience? 

The Bar

Bad Reputation cocktail

Then we were led to the main dinning room that used to be an old dairy barn for the Rockefeller. 

Beautiful dinning room

We had close to 20 courses..where one of them was literally a stalk of fennel.  Here are some notable ones: 

First and Second course: different veggies on the stand and a stalk of fennel

5th course: turnip

6th course: weeds from the garden plus sauce for dipping

By the time we got to dish #7, we were wondering if they plan to serve any meat? Wei asked the waiter if we could use the dipping sauce from the previous course for this pile of leaves? The answer was, “No, sir, please don’t eat the leaves.”

Finally, the 8th course resembled something other than a pile of grass.  It was a corn burger, I don't think there were any meat in it.

Half way into our meal, we were led by the waitress for a “field trip”. We walked past the kitchen and the private dinning room area into another room (no AC).  She then closed the door behind us and left us there...alone!

The room has a view of the farm

The room was so beautiful, full of flowers and herbs.  So we took tons of photos while we were waiting.  Finally, the door opened again and we were presented with a dish full of cucumbers plus a set of silverware (oh did I mention, we have been eating with our hands until now).  This dish was so refreshing and it paired so well with yogurt.

Once we got back to the indoor dining room, we enjoyed a few more courses before we were presented with a very fun game.

The waitress told us that they fed a set of hens with red peppers so the yolks from these hens have red color in them. The idea behind it is to educate the public that what you feed the animal is what you eat.  She told us to write our name on the egg that we think came from the hen that ate the red pepper. After we made our choice, the waiter came out and started churning butter for our bread. He showed us how buttermilk is made and encouraged us to dip our bread in it.

Voila! I picked the right one!

Do you see the different color of yolk?

After the egg dish, I had a feeling that the meat dishes were coming, but I didn’t expect to see this.

An entire pig face stuffed in salt (the green color is due to herb, not matcha!).

And that's the ear sticking out on the left!

Of course, that meant we were getting some kind of pork dish next. 

As you can see, they placed the bones of the pig face on a plate with pig ears and cheeks for consumption.

Finally it was time for dessert and a birthday cake to celebrate my birthday! The soufflé was to die for!

Molten chocolate lava cake

Milk ice cream with berries, molten chocolate lava cake, and soufflé.  

Berries and honey comb

3.5 hrs and $258pp later, we were satisfied.  While the meal was centered more towards vegetables, we were very full of an array of dishes.  We walked away having more appreciation for the farmers that grew the food, the chefs that prepped them, and the animals that died for our meal.  The dishes were not only fresh and delicious, they were very creative. It is like dining at Barton G Miami without the theatrical part.