Blue Hill Stone Barns

We finally made it to Blue Hill at Stone Bars last weekend and I have to say it met all of our expectations and then some.  Driving up the winding road to the main barns, I felt my heart start to flutter with excitement. I had no idea how beautiful this place was going to be! It was absolutely freezing and the immense Stone Barns seemed to shine a glorious blue hue against the dark wintery night sky.

We walked through the gorgeous courtyard and into the warm inviting bar area. There was a roaring fire going in the fireplace and I was immediately reminded of going into the ski lodges when I was younger after a run on the slopes. We had spent the weekend with Mr. T’s parents and decided to enjoy a drink at the bar with them before starting our meal. I took a look at the menu and noticed a beer made exclusively for the restaurant. It was called the Collaboration Lager made by Kelso Brewery and Blue Hill. It was actually a Honey Nut Brown Lager that was brewed by Kelso and then infused with honey right from the farm.
Of course I had to try that out.  It looked exactly like other Nut Brown ales with dark golden hues and a small head and had a nice honey after taste that I really enjoyed.



We enjoyed a drink with the parents and then they were off for home. And we were off to enjoy a delightful meal filled with more food than I think I have ever been served in one sitting.  We were seated in the corner with a great table overlooking the entire room.  I borrowed this picture from Mens Vouge to show you how nice it was. (Hopefully I don’t get into trouble)



Once we were seated we ordered a nice Pinot Noir and set to ordering.  There is no menu per se at Blue Hill. They give you a list of ingredients that may be used during the meal and ask you a few questions regarding food allergies and your preferences and then we were off!

We decided to go all out and get the farmers feast which would showcase the best of what Blue Hill had to offer that night. Below is the only picture that I will have for this amazing dinner because the lighting in the restaurant was awful for picture taking and I honestly wanted to enjoy the meal without thinking about pictures. We were started off with a vegetable tray of sorts.



Carrot, Bok Choy and a little head of cauliflower all on sticks.

This turned out to be a true example of what Blue Hill is all about and a precursor to great things to come.  The vegetable were seasoned with only a splash of lemon and that was it. OMG they were so wonderful! Never have I had a carrot that tasted so much like carrot before! Really! The flavor was just intensely strong! It was amazing.

Second Amuse Bouche- Sunchoke and parsley soup- so thick and rich I don't think I could have had more than the tiny shot glass size they gave us.

Bread with Ronnybrook butter.  The Ronnybrook butter was good but then they brought out a tray with the Stone Barns butter and it just blew that away. Creamy, rich and utterly fresh – the butter was out of this world.  It also came with ricotta cheese, arugula salt and carrot salt for putting on the bread. I honestly think Mr. T and I would have been just fine if we could just sit there and eat the bread all night. OMG it was by far the best bread and butter I have ever experienced! Along with the bread came a side of artichoke, blue corn and zucchini chips with a little tray of bologna and capicola.

Next came the item of food I will dream about forever.

An absolutely miniscule burger made from beet, goat cheese and pancetta with a sesame stick. Holy Cats! This was out of this world!!! I wanted to ask for more! I have no idea what they did to make this little beet taste so amazing but it was one of the best things I have ever tasted.

Okay, at this point the food just started to come out like crazy and I don’t have time to talk about all of the dishes but I’ll try to list all of the courses and comment on a few.

Roasted Leeks with apple and mushrooms- leek as it’s own main course- you better believe it!

Sea Bass with winter veggie puree.

Sea Scallop with chopped endive and beet sauce.

Chicken with spinach gnocchi in a spinach sauce.

Fried whole egg with lettuce puree and beluga lentils. The lentils really looked like caviar!

Veal with roasted baby carrots.

By the time the veal came around I was so stuffed I could only manage about two bites. Which is unfortunate because it was so insanely delicious I almost wanted to ask for a doggie bag!

Palate cleanser of blood orange sorbet.

Apple tart with sweet apple sauce.

Mini caramel macaroon to end.

Whew! That was a lot of food!  Now some notes about the dinner. Everything we had was simply wonderful but if I had to say there were any misses it would probably be the desserts.
The apple tart was kind of boring and the blood orange sorbet didn’t really do it for me. However the mini macaroon was simply perfect.Also we found there to be a little too much veggie sauce with each dish. By the time we got to the egg Mr. T said he never wanted to see another green sauce in his life! However- these were very very small misses in a meal of incredible hits.

I marveled at how there seemed to be an endless flow of waiters helping with our every need and never making a mistake. I ordered a Moscato with my dessert and when it poured slightly flat the waiter immediately brought over another bottle and poured a second glass without me even asking. The service was truly top notch. So overall it was incredible.

The farmers feast is really way to much food so next time we would definitely only order the 5 course menu. Blue Hill is truly a special place and I can’t wait to return in the summertime and walk around their lovely grounds.  Everything was so fresh and beautiful it was a little hard to come back to the concrete reality of the city.

Blue Hill Stone Barns

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