This year, I got it in my head that I wanted to go to Blue Hill at Stone Barns. When I get things in my head like that, they don’t usually go away.
Unfortunately for me, I didn’t realize just how impossible it is to get a reservation there. I tried for lunch. I tried for dinner. I tried for everything, and still, no luck. They take reservations up to two months in advance and I was never lucky enough to manage to get a reservation, not even one that I couldn’t use. I thought it was hopeless, despite my stubborn insistence and desire that this would be where I go for my birthday this year.
Then, the fates intervened. Well, Facebook. I wrote one final, desperate plea as my status message: “wants to go to Blue Hill at Stone Barns for her birthday but totally cannot get a reservation. Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!” or something along those lines. And… suddenly… the sun shone through those clouds of grey, a miracle happened, and someone I don’t even know offered to get me a reservation.
And then he did (for October 17).
As you can see by the above photo, yes I went! BF took me for my birthday.
We were led to what really was the best table in the house. (My friend’s got connections, k?) — In fact so much so, that when we were seated, we were immediately served glasses of sparkling wine, on the house 🙂
The bread plates were adorable, designed with bits of farmhouse-living in mind.
The “menu” – basically a list of what we might see in our food – and we opted for the larger farmer’s feast, to try more things.
Fresh veggies skewered sadistically on this contraption. Lightly salted or dressed, each piece was bright and sweet, a reminder that everything was grown right outside and harvested daily.
Shots of fennel soup. I was surprised when BF took a sip and liked it; I tentatively sniffed it, waiting for the licorice scent to assault me. It didn’t. The soup was creamy and lightly sweet, which made me think that fennel bulb in my fridge might befall the same fate…
Smoked kale chips, yukon potato slices, and farrow something. I apologize for the awful photograph, it was awkward photographing this block of wood with notches cut into it. In any case, I picked up the smoked kale, bit into it, and immediately blurted out, “This tastes like camping!” It had that intense smoky taste, slightly salty, and melted in my mouth like so much ash – delicious, delicious ash. The farrow was alright, but I liked the potato slice because it tasted like a potato chip and had an herb threaded through it. (I would tell you what but I don’t want to inform erroneously…)
Eggplant wrapped with coppa?
Closer up but blurrier. I think the sesame crust overwhelmed the creaminess of the eggplant a bit, but it wasn’t bad, overall, though I didn’t taste the coppa (or meat.. there was a meat involved).
Prosciutto wrapped around farmfresh egg that had been scrambled and made into a pressed piece of egg with green stripes – I think peppers – this was a nice little bite, though BF didn’t seem to like the (sweet) peppers, as he left some on his plate.
Beet burgers! These are just about the size of my thumb. I liked the sweetness of the roasted beet with a lil schmear of goat cheese… yum! BF ate it but made no comment.
Braseola, liver with chocolate, and I believe coppa… I really liked the liver with chocolate, it was surprising and different. BF took a bite (aren’t you proud?!) but didn’t like the textures – the chocolate was more like a chocolate candy, insomuch that it was crisp and crackly versus being a melty chocolate. The other meats were fine but neither top my list of favorite cured Italian meats, so.
Bread… delicious, rustic, housemade bread… with housemade butter (left), fresh ricotta, and tomato salt. The tomato salt didn’t taste like much to me, but the ricotta was pretty amazing and delicious… and the butter, out of this world. BF also really liked the bread. I didn’t eat much of the butter because right after they brought the bread, they brought over…
veal shank topped with sturgeon caviar. I love how they cut the bone down the longway… but even more, I love the pure genius behind using caviar instead of sea salt, which seems to be the norm. I mean, come on – cut out the middle process – because what does caviar taste like except the sea? Totally awesome. I was in heaven digging out the marrow, inhaling it, and finally convinced BF with my faces of bliss that he should try a little bit (when there was very little left already, oops!). He took a bit, ate it, and then said, “Hmm, tastes like… meat butter.”
How can I not love this man??? Unprompted, he writes gold for my review. Meat butter. Heavenly, heavenly meat butter, spread on wonderful rustic bread (and topped with tomato salt a bit sometimes). Amazing.
Bonito topped with farm fresh egg, pig ear, and something else… with pears underneath. I have had bonito before and hated it; it was leathery and disgusting. This was no bonito like that! Completely tender and melt-in-your-mouth, the crunchy bits of pig ear contrasting the texture nicely… yumm! BF only ate half and decided he would rather eat my pears.
Trout topped with pig snout and concord grape reduction on the plate. The trout was nice, firm, with a very fresh taste… I didn’t mind the snout except would have liked it crispy instead of what it was, which was little bits of chewy fat. BF ate the trout happily (!!!), but the snout, after one, he pushed them all to one side.
This course appeared when I went to use the ladies’ room – this meal had, thusfar, taken about one and a half hours. The total time… well. You’ll find out. In any case, fresh veggies with cream cheese. I liked the course, though BF didn’t eat most of his (so I snuck over and ate all the veggies I’d really liked, hehe). It was very refreshing and light.
Our next course was preceded by our server coming over with a nest… containing eggs. She explained that our next course was going to feature farm fresh eggs, which have a better taste and brighter yolks. Out came a poached egg with squash and Shiitake mushroom broth. I ate this happily, though my father’s words resounded in my head: “Soft yolks are best *face to plate* slurped up in the privacy of one’s own home, or sopped up with some good bread.” I wound up eating parts of this with a spoon, though some yolk still escaped… so I took a piece of bread and discreetly mopped some up. Mmm, mmm delicious.
BF gamely tried some of this – I’d mostly been eating whatever he wasn’t, but this dish I couldn’t get myself to eat his share as well (seeing as I was getting very full), so he left much of it on his plate. Our server came over and noticed this, and asked him if it was alright; he responded that it was fine, just not his thing. She insisted on bringing out a new plate of something for him that would only take a minute, though he said it wasn’t necessary.
She brought out chestnut gnocchi with ricotta. BF actually wound up really liking this dish; I’d thought gnocchi weren’t filled but just puffs of potato, but here they were semi filled with airy ricotta and quite tasty.
Our next course was meant to be lamb, but the server came over to check with BF if he would eat lamb brain. Initially he said he would try it, but I pressed him and finally said “You can have some of my brain if you want to try it.” So he opted to have a slightly different dish than I – the above is chicken slices (that look like abalone to me), a bit of lamb, and brussels sprouts. I tried the lamb and it was really good – meaty, tender, with a crisp skin (? but I swear it had skin, like duck… it’s in the bottom part of the photo). BF liked the chicken well enough, but was pretty full at this point, so wasn’t too keen on eating more food.
My lamb brain! Little bits of lamby deliciousness. Okay, that’s a lie. I’ve had brain before and this was about the same. Creamy but with no real discernible taste of its own. Nice complements but overall… I don’t feel the need to seek it out and eat it again. If it’s served to me, or offered to me, I would eat it… but as an offal, it’s not particularly interesting.
Berkshire pork medallions and one piece of Berkshire pork belly with a schmear of smoked Fuji apple puree. This was absolutely one of my favorite dishes of the night. The smoky sweetness of the apple puree, like apple sauce taken to a new, adult level, worked with the meaty tenderness of the medallions so well… I was in heaven. Of course the little piece of pork belly on the side was excellent simply by itself… mmm, fatty goodness…
And finally, yet almost too soon, we were onto our dessert courses. Unfortunately, I don’t recall the above dessert too well; I remember ‘apple’ but that’s about it. I called my boyfriend to ask if he remembered, and he railed on about the green part being “Jolly Rancher Green Apple” and “that just goes to show you, if it was good, we would remember it.” I remember both of us liking the sorbet part, but the green liquid had some fibrous items in it that made me go “bleeh” and just wasn’t a favorite.
Our next dessert course was pumpkin and fig. Another alright dessert, both of us were again more into the ice cream/sorbet scoop (especially with crunchy bits sprinkled on top!). The plummy cake on the bottom was not to my liking, and the plums/figs on the side were a bit too tart.
That should have been our last course, but I think the waiter overheard me talking about my birthday with my boyfriend because he asked us if we’d care for some chocolate. I said “Alright, how about a little bit?” and he came over with plates for both of us. (Throughout the night, we’d seen servers approach various tables around us with desserts lit up with candles, but BF made the right choice by not requesting this.) This was chocolate brulee, with Asian pear sorbet – which I loved! but the chocolate was thick and just at this point in the night, I was so done… though BF did enjoy his.
Nearly 3+ hours after we’d been seated, the check was presented along with this – homemade marshmallows, raspberry chcoolates… pretty yummy but I could only sadly nibble the edges before putting them down, lest I explode onto the table. Boof.
All in all, truly an experience and quite a delicious meal.
Yvo says: BF’s opinion was strong enough and markedly different from my own that it bears noting: he did not think this was worth the amount paid, and “for that amount of money, the entire meal should be memorable and amazing, like ‘that dish’ doesn’t leave your mind.” I would even venture that he practically hated the place. On the other hand, while I can’t say I loved the place, there were memorable dishes through the night that I don’t believe I will ever forget: the marrow with caviar, the wonderful bread and butter, and definitely the Berkshire pork dish. I did, however, enjoy the other savory courses much more than he did as well… perhaps because of my great affinity towards veggies and fresh veggies even more so? Take that as you will… this meal (everything you see above plus 2 glasses of wine) came out to just under $400. Definitely not for everyday dining; this was a special occasion (and regular readers realize I don’t eat like this often!)… if you can manage to fork out that kind of cash, and to score a reservation, I think it’s a great epxerience to have at least once. If not, I don’t think you should feel badly or like you’re missing out on the most amazing thing ever.
(Point to note: service was on par with the price/place; superbly attended to but never rushed or imposed upon.)
recommended
Blue Hill at Stone Barns
630 Bedford Road
Pocantico Hills, NY 10591
(914) 366-3600
http://www.bluehillfarm.com/
SkippyMom says
I really liked the service aspect of this post – they seem to have some fantastic servers.
Otherwise? The only word going through my head the entire review was pretentious – especially some of the presentations [the first two come to mind].
I am so happy you got your wish for your birthday [YAY! for your friend and facebook!] and maybe I am just old – but I can think of other places with $400 tabs that [I think] would be more enjoyable, so I have to side with BF on this. That is just me tho’ – a suburban housewife, not a chic, young woman living in NYC. 😉
Love ya!
Aimee S. says
I was just wondering the other night when you were going to post something about this. While I can understand that spending $400 is a lot for dinner this WAS a special occasion and the food looked really amazing. I’m glad you got to go Yvo!
Always Eating says
Nice recap. I loved Stone Barns when I went, but I hear you, it is hard to pay that much and not expect to love every bite. I went last year during tomato season and it was just wonderful. That lamb brain dish and pork medallions sounded quite good!
KatieZ says
That’s such a creative “menu” they give you in the beginning! Did they also go through the actual menu with you or was it a surprise with each dish (besides the lamb brain)?
Thanks for relating your boyfriend’s experience as well. I’ve been slowly attempting to get my boyfriend to try out different things but I don’t know how many years it’ll take before he likes going to a restaurant like Stone Barns! (He’s got a thing against vegetables and ‘weird’ food.. *sigh*) Guess I’ll have to bring along a girlfriend!
chubbychinesegirl says
Hey that’s the actual day of my Bday, 23rd… I went to Blue Hills too, but the one in the city =) (post to come)
so you’re a nov baby too huh?
Sarah says
that sounds like a dining experience i’d quite like to try. i do have some reservations about exposing my husband to some of the more exotic foods. i don’t think he’d be too keen on some of the items you tried in this post. i certainly would be interested enough to most of them!