The Best Thing We Ate This Weekend: Dinner at Blue Hill Stone Barns

Vegetables from the garden

By James Mulcahy

"Your next course will involve a little field trip," our waitress said, her eyes twinkling under trendy red-frame glasses. "If you'll follow me." Choosing the favorite moment from our Friday night visit to Blue Hill Stone Barns is hard. The "vegetables from the garden" that serve as the first in an epic series of amuse bouches were fresh and creatively presented (we particularly enjoyed shearing Brussels sprouts from a stalk with a mini sickle). It's no wonder that the just-made ricotta always finds a spot on the rotating tasting menu - the staff promised that the subtle, earthy notes in the cheese change depending on the the cows diet that season. But when the server led us into the garden and we found none-other-than Dan Barber waiting for us in the darkness, it was the clincher.


The chef took us around the building - skipping the usual country vistas that impress visitors and leading us to something less becoming: the compost heap. He quickly jumped on top of the pile of dirt, explaining all that goes in to composting at the farm - many of the ingredients in the kitchen make their way here once their useful parts are worked into dishes. In fact, the chef said that they are actually using the compost as a heat source to cook certain items - it get so hot in the center of the mass (which is aerated with a special pump)  that the kitchen can use it as a defacto roaster.

As we got down, the chef handed us some eggs, leading us back into the dining room and instructing us to give them to our server. She collected the eggs, and a few sips of wine later they came out poached in our next course. At the end of the meal, a guest of ours likened the dinner to a visit to Wonka's factory. True, the magic was there, but we doubt Willy's fare tasted that good.

Photo: Robobby via Flickr