Restaurant review: Blue Hill at Stone Barns

Judd and I received a very generous gift certificate for dinner Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York, as a wedding present from our friend Anastasia. My sister, who had eaten there a few times, suggested we cash in our lovely gift in the fall since that was a very pretty time of year to eat there. So in September, I naively called to make a dinner reservation for two. Little did I know that to make a dinner reservation for a Saturday night, I would need to call two months in advance of the calendar day on which I wanted to dine. So in our case, I made a reservation on Monday, September 14th for dinner on Saturday, November 14th. And that date finally arrived last night!

Pocantico Hills is in Westchester County about 45 minutes north of the Upper West Side, near Tarrytown. The restaurant is literally housed in a beautiful old stone barn, which is just one part of the larger Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. The farm at Stone Barns grows or produces most of the food that fellow Tufts grad Dan Barber cooks in the kitchen of Blue Hill.

The entire place is stunning and beautifully furnished. There was a roaring fire in the cozy bar area and stylish black leather wing chairs to relax in. The dining room at Blue Hill is even more spectacular. It has vaulted ceilings and a large wooden table in its center with enormous candles and an arrangement of seasonal branches. There is no menu at Blue Hill. Instead, diners are presented with a list of over 100 possible seasonal ingredients and choose between a 5- or 8-course Farmer's Feast which is custom-comprised by the chef based on those ingredients and any restrictions you impose. We chose the 8-course Farmer's Feast - thanks, Stash! - and I asked for no fish (I am very picky about fish and thought it was easier just to exclude it), no venison, and no chocolate. Magic ensued.

Our 3 hour meal started with the arrival of three little starters: small glasses of velvety fennel soup, tiny vegetables impaled on a rectangular piece of wood (e.g., a small radish, a miniature carrot, a floret of purple cauliflower), and smoked kale and red Adirondack potato chips.

Next up: tiny beet burgers and skewered salsify wrapped in pancetta and covered in sesame seeds. Wow- these were two of the tastiest bites of food from the entire night.

The warm homemade bread followed with homemade butter, homemade ricotta cheese, and homemade arugula salt (the arugula is dehydrated and crumbled into the salt). I wasn't into the arugula salt, which we were encouraged to sprinkle onto our bread, but the butter was exceptional on its own. None of these three courses counted toward our eight course meal, which I will now list:

Course 1: Smoked tomato soup with a tiny quenelle of tomato confit, a mini crouton, and far too many other accoutrements to list

Course 2: forono beets with pine nut butter and micro greens (our server even brought over some raw forono beets so we could see what they look like - they grow in cold weather which makes them sweeter for their struggle)

Course 3: braised fennel with apple for me and local striped bass with cauliflower puree and concord grapes for Judd

Course 4: "this morning's egg," poached and served with spicy lentils and lettuce broth (our server brought over a nest full of eggs and explained the lives of the chickens at Stone Barns who had laid them that morning)

Course 5: homemade ravioli with Hudson Valley beef, grated horseradish, and beet puree - another standout

Course 6: pork tenderloin and pork belly with tender chunks of carrot and crispy Brussels sprouts leaves

Course 7: pickled quince with fromage blanc, crumbled nuts, and ginger ice cream - I love ginger ice-cream!

Course 8: cream of toasted what with comice pear slivers, some kind of cookie, and lemon verbena ice cream

Everything about this meal - and, true to its name, it really was a feast - was exceptional from the beautiful farmhouse setting, the elegant and slightly modern plates, bowls, and glasses, and the impeccable service. Judd left our camera in the car, but I probably wouldn't have taken any photos anyway since it was too serene inside the dining room for flash photography. But the food was the real star. I have never before tasted vegetables prepared with such imagination, precision, or intensity.

I had told our server that I had also gone to Tufts and we got a lovely handwritten note from Dan Barber on our way out inviting us to return for the winter harvest. Mr. Barber, I accept your kind invitation with pleasure, though I probably should call on Monday to make a reservation to get back there while it's still winter.

****

Details:

Blue Hill at Stone Barns

630 Bedford Road

Pocantico Hills, New York

(914) 366-9600

Dinner for two: ~$450 (thank goodness we had a gift certificate to cover most of that!)