I got so distracted writing my recipes and pontificating about vegetarianism that I almost forgot to post my blog entry about my visit (along with my teacher Mr. Weisler and my sister Alena) to Blue Hill at Stone Barns, in Pocantico Hills.
Blue Hill is the better-known, better-liked, and better-tasting of the farms that I've been to thus far. Not to any fault of the others, but Stone Barns is simply much wealthier and as a result can provide a gorgeous and delicious face to the local food movement. The drive up is easy and pleasant enough (although be careful Mapquest directions do not take you to Tarrytown--for some reason this is a common mistake that it does) and once you see the rolling hills of the farm and the deep chocolate brown cows, you'll know you are going to spend the afternoon the right way. They have a plethora of classes, touring opportunities (we took ourselves around and there is a "self-guided walking tour map" that is very helpful in addition to just following the signs). Everything from watching the newly-sheared sheep to admiring their greenhouses is open to visitors...although my fellow visitors were not quite as interested in the manure houses as I was. Strange, isn't it?
When you tire of watching the hogs and smelling the tall herb bushes, you can take a break at the Blue Hill Cafe which offers a changing menu, usually with a "salad bar" type thing that has freshly prepared foods using the farm's produce, sandwiches (tuna, "bologna," and pb&j for the yunggins, and if you're lucky a delicious brocolli rabe and cheddar panini--bellisimo [shout out to Zander Abranowicz!]). The best part, or most dangerous part depending on your perspective, of the Cafe is that the walk to order your food is lined with delectably fresh cookies, bars, granolas, jams, and other preserves. Usually, when I go with my father on lovely Saturday afternoon jaunts, we finish a little snack before our actual meal. "Just to tide us over" or "nobody else has to know" are usually our cover-ups and justifications. But there is no other justification for why the food is so delicious other than this: fresh products, cooked simply, served accessibly. My sister and I both got squares of fresh vegetable and potato frittata (we may have also shared an incredible peanut butter cookie) and Mr. Weisler got the tuna sandwich with humanely raised oil-packed tuna and farm-fresh lettuces. We did not venture into the main restaurant there which is much fancier and more expensive, but word on the street is that it is an epicurian delight.
We all thoroughly enjoyed our lunch and our refreshing iced teas (Harney & Sons--which packages its teas in upstate NY and features a variety of hot and cold teas and supports 1% For the Planet, a group of businesses that donate 1% of their profits to environmental conservation groups) and though we didn't buy water this time, choosing just to sip it from our metal bottles, we did notice the water sold at the Cafe is Keeper Springs water, a project of Bobby Kennedy Jr. who is a great friend of my aunt and uncle and an even greater advocate for clean water through his tireless work with River Keepers. Another boon of eating there is the use of recycled and non-plastic/petroleum products--something I constantly struggle with. I feel guilty and a bit upset each time I use a non-recycled or recyclable product and the waste associated with eating-out is astounding. If we each ate more meals in or more meals contained in reusable materials, we would each be doing a great service to our environment and to our wallets.
Blue Hill at Stone Barns, which was even the site of a Top Chef competition, is a perfect place to introduce yourself or others to local food and the farm-to-food movement. It is beautiful and stereotypical looking with many surprises in the fields and on the tables.
