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Blue Hill at Stone Barns


NY News Team

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How do I get here from Manhattan. Without a car?

Take the train. You'll find directions on the Stone Barns web site. It's the Hudson line to Tarrytown from Grand Central. From the Tarrytown station you should be able to get a cab to the restaurant. Metro North schedule here.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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Gosh, I almost licked the computer screen when I got to the pig picture! My, oh my.

I am going to have to go here--it's not all that far from us. Wish it was about two miles away, obviously. :rolleyes:

Angela

"I'm not looking at the panties, I'm looking at the vegetables!" --RJZ
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Great job Rachel & Jason!

The food looked/sounded great. One observation - the Roasted Oyster. Do you think it would have worked better if served on a spoon? The dish seems to cry out for that. The glass (at least that particular one) seems a bit awkward.

Rich Schulhoff

Opinions are like friends, everyone has some but what matters is how you respect them!

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Yes, we went with the Chef's Tasting Menu. Which I think was $125 a person and then there was the wine pairings which was separate. But they knew we were in house, and it was Rachel's birthday, so we definitely were treated as special guests.

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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Bob Lape awards four stars to Blue Hill Stone Barns in today's Crain's New York Business.

If ever food literally shouted “Fresh!” it's here, from dairy-free parsnip soup with basil oil in a tall, thin flute, to warm chocolate bread pudding banked with banana ice cream and sprinkled with salted peanuts. Salad lovers swoon over a medley of 11 mixed greens and herbs combined with pistachios and lemon. Baby romaine lettuce from the greenhouse is bathed in warm pancetta vinaigrette and tossed with pine nuts.

[.....]

The kitchen swears by the Berkshire pigs on the farm. The flavor-packed, silky wonder of cured bacon, roast loin and cotecchino served with red ace beets and braised red cabbage shows why. Baby lamb is also braised and roasted in an amaranth crust with broccoli rabe, ramps and horseradish broth. Hudson Valley venison is done with venison sausage, farro and spinach.

The link will be good only for this week, after which it will be replaced by next week's review.

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The kitchen swears by the Berkshire pigs on the farm. The flavor-packed, silky wonder of cured bacon, roast loin and cotecchino served with red ace beets and braised red cabbage shows why.

That pig dish was incredibly flavorful. The loin was a little tougher than expected, but the flavor was there. And the belly, ur, um bacon, was to die for. The sweet and sour flavor of the red cabbage contrasted nicely with the rich pork.

My favorite dish of the evening, however, was the hot smoked brook trout with asparagus and sweet peas, that was outstanding.

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  • 1 month later...

Second dinner at BHSB for us, and I am ready to report!

First was the Fergus Henderson event - fantastic as that was, I sense it was somewhat atypical for BHSB.

Gorgeous grounds (oft repeated) so wear comfortable shoes and check out the Berkshire pigs and the chickens.

(Note re earlier posts on this thread - anyone wearing shorts to a place like this really needs a lesson in good restaurant manners. While in a rural setting, the actual restaurant is classy, beautiful, and anything but casual.)

Dan asked to cook for the table, so we were happy to go with it. I should add that this wasn't the simplest thing with our group of six, as two were vegetarians and one other had a broken jaw, necessitating pureed courses!

Started with a variety of drinks for the table - cava, sangria, cocktails. (Dinner wines were a 2003 Ken Wright Pinot blanc and two bottles of 2003 Brick House WV Pinot noir.)

Amuse - chilled pea soup shooters! Bright, fresh flavors - fantastic palate sharpeners.

Amuse 2 - a fresh picked salad turnip with salt. Slightly sweet and very nice (for one who generally avoids turnips - though I like radishes). The chewing-challenged had fresh beet soup.

Foie Gras - seered and coated with dark chocolate gratings. Foie gras, of course, is always good! Which made me think about the other thing that is always good (being an ex-pat Southerner) - fried food. Which made me think "how good would deep-fried foie gras be?" Sorta like clam bellies, I suppose. Note to self - gotta try that at home!

Soup - green gaspacho. cuke, mint, green toms or tomatillos - not sure. Another nice palate brightener, after the foie gras.

the Egg - Described elsewhere, it is flash fried and coated with panko and (me thinks) pistachio, served over micro greens (including baby mint) and cuke puree, with a lemon vin. Spectacular to have an egg so fresh. (the chew-challenged had a tapioca and avocado concoction.)

Fish - sea trout with a light pea sauce (with fava beans and pistachios, in a mint and chive broth).

Pasta - cavatelli with morel and fava sauce.

Main courses -

Poached chicken breast with chick peas, tiny asparagus, favas, onion.

Lobster meat over curried carrots.

Braised lamb shoulder croquette over farro.

Pre-dessert - strawberry soup with a scoop of strawberry sorbet and mixed berries.

Dessert - Basil souffle with pistachio sorbet.

Coffee, chocolate covered cashews, the bill.

We were also given a quick tour of the kitchen - having not toured many working kitchens up close, I was struck by the swiss watch precision and the army of chefs. I knew one guy wasn't doing it all - but you look and think there are almost too many people back there! Very busy, very precise.

All in all, it was a fantastic meal. So many fresh flavors. But (to address an early comment on here) there is certainly no lack in technique - this is certainly the highest echelon of cooking. I enjoyed the preparation more than that of French Laundry, for instance. But the farm fresh ingredients make the food even more of a joy than it otherwise might have been.

Nothing fell short and I'd be hard pressed to single one dish for special praise though, if I had to, and as much as I regret noting a dessert, I'd say that the basil souffle really rocked my world. The natural sweetness of the dish contrasted brilliantly with that minerally quality of basil.

Anyone been up there for the Friday farm market?

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I've posted a review on the Blue Hill at Stone Barns thread here.

While this is, technically, a New York (Westchester County) restaurant, I believe it would be of particular interest to Southern New Englanders.

Wonderful cuisine - more New England than New York, to me.

cg

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It is a wonderful restaurant in a beautiful setting. If you can't get a reservation, you can have dinner at the bar. Great to combine with a tour of Kykuit (the Rockefeller estate) and the Matisse Chapel.

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Finally went last week with some friends and while we thoroughly enjoyed the experience, we were somewhat disappointed with the food on the plate.

We made sure to arrive early enough to walk around and have a cocktail outside on the terrace. We all felt transported to another place. Maybe the wine country in California, maybe Tuscany. We definitely did not believe we were in Westchester County. The drinks were excellent and included a martini with a pickled ramp, a margarita with elderberry syrup and sangria with fresh strawberries.

Well now on to the food. As there were four of us with 4 choices in each section (soup & salad, fish, pasta (only 3 pastas), meat) we decided on each of us ordering the 4 course tasting and we each picked a different dish in each section so we literally tasted every dish on the menu.

We were started with an amuse of Beet Juice which was good but nothing we haven’t had before at other restaurants not located on a farm and that is where I think the rub is. Is this really better tasting food?

We ended up with 15 dishes and 2 desserts and not 1 dish was spectacular. Both salads were in desperate need of salt as were the lamb and snapper. The best dishes were the gazpacho, the smoked sturgeon, the tortellini stuffed with pork and mushrooms and the Berkshire pig. My wife had the chicken and while the actual taste of the chicken was very good compared to other chickens, it was still just chicken. While all of the vegetable accompaniments were very green and clearly fresh, they were devoid of much flavor. The vegetables and herbs I had at my dinner at Bluestem in Kansas City a few weeks ago had better flavor than the Blue Hill vegetables.

And what is with the bread? A basket of small chewy squares made of white flour were something you might find at a cafeteria-style buffet like Morrison’s. Really a joke.

Desserts were a flop. We had a chocolate dessert that looked very unappetizing on the plate and at the end of the day was very similar to the flourless chocolate cakes served across America. I don’t remember what are other dessert was, it was that unmemorable.

All in all, I think what they are trying to accomplish is very noble but I don’t think it is manifesting itself in better food. Maybe before restaurants had such easy access to great ingredients, Blue Hill at Stone Barns would have more appeal. But if I can get better prepared food with ingredients of equal quality at close to half the price in Kansas City, what is the point?

"These pretzels are making me thirsty." --Kramer

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We were started with an amuse of Beet Juice which was good but nothing we haven’t had before at other restaurants not located on a farm and that is where I think the rub is. Is this really better tasting food?
My wife had the chicken and while the actual taste of the chicken was very good compared to other chickens, it was still just chicken.
All in all, I think what they are trying to accomplish is very noble but I don’t think it is manifesting itself in better food. Maybe before restaurants had such easy access to great ingredients, Blue Hill at Stone Barns would have more appeal. But if I can get better prepared food with ingredients of equal quality at close to half the price in Kansas City, what is the point?

Perhaps the point is less about dishes that strive to be spectacular than it is about food that strives to be true to its origins: respect for the earth from whence it came, and respect for the ingredients -- simple food prepared simply and well.

I think that we've become so innured to trends of the moment that we heap expectations when we should approach things with an open eye and welcoming arms.

Sometimes chicken is just chicken and not ortolan la chinoise. :wink:

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Soba, I'm all for food to be true to it's origins but if something is bland, like the lamb, the snapper and both salads, the chef needs to do something to perk up the dish otherwise it is failure regardless of where the ingredients were sourced from.

"These pretzels are making me thirsty." --Kramer

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Soba, I'm all for food to be true to it's origins but if something is bland, like the lamb, the snapper and both salads, the chef needs to do something to perk up the dish otherwise it is failure regardless of where the ingredients were sourced from.

It wouldn't be the first time the underseasoning criticism had been lobbied at either of the Blue Hills.

"If it's me and your granny on bongos, then it's a Fall gig'' -- Mark E. Smith

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Perhaps the point is less about dishes that strive to be spectacular than it is about food that strives to be true to its origins:  respect for the earth from whence it came, and respect for the ingredients -- simple food prepared simply and well.

. . . .

I've only been up to Stone Barns once, so my familiarity of the food is based mostly on what I've had at Stone Barns in Manhattan, but I'd never call that food simple, or simply prepared. I've often referred to the dishes as "gentle," but I wouldn't call them simple any more than I'd refer to the Bach cello suites as simple music. I would agree that "spectacular" might not be the popularly operative word to describe the dishes, even by those who actually believe the results are spectacular. Spectacular brings to mind drums and brass to tread a little more dangerously into analogies.

I've learned to expect the restaurants I most love to be panned from time to time. Taste is highly subjective. Statements such as "I can get better prepared food with ingredients of equal quality at close to half the price" are basically unchallengeable, even if only one person believes it's true. I suspect I've heard someone pan every restaurant I've loved, at least once. People, myself included, seem to have disappointing meals at three star restaurants, yet Michelin seems to uphold the rating the next year.

As for chicken being "still just chicken," I'm curious as to what else it might be expected to be. I'd be happy that it was better tasting than other chickens. I remember one of my early visits to Gramercy Tavern and someone whose taste I greatly respected although she was young enough to be my daughter, told me to order the chicken. She was rather insistent because, as she said, she knew I wouldn't be likely to order chicken on my own. Come to think of it, in my youth I recall reading the words of a critic who said he tests a new restaurant by ordering a simple roast chicken. These are different times I suppose, but the chicken at Gramercy Tavern was just chicken, perhaps even just chicken simply roasted, but it was spectacular. Though of course, it was a simple dish, not a spectacular dish. De gustibus non est disputandum.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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I thought there was a fairly complex use of herbs in the dishes we were served. To my palate, there seemed to be a deemphasis on spices.

Just because I didn't get a lot of black pepper, salt, cardamom, etc., doesn't mean the dishes weren't complex - it simply means they were subtley complex. There was a pile of salt with my salad turnip, presumably, because it served in emphasizing the turnip.

Otherwise, herbs served as a platform, enhancing the main ingredients. The use of more spices would have especially distracted from the freshness of the ingredients.

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while the actual taste of the chicken was very good compared to other chickens, it was still just chicken. While all of the vegetable accompaniments were very green and clearly fresh, they were devoid of much flavor. The vegetables and herbs I had at my dinner at Bluestem in Kansas City a few weeks ago had better flavor than the Blue Hill vegetables.

To me, there's a big difference between "just chicken," and chickens that are raised 200 yards away from the restaurant, fed, slaughtered and butchered by hand, and prepared by chefs who really care about what they are doing.

Vegetables pulled out of the dirt behind your restaurant and prepared well don't need much in the way of seasoning. BH seems to focus on the food, with herbs and seasonings more subtle and layered, to emphasize that food.

I would like to understand why you say the food at Bluestem is "better prepared." What about the Blue Hill food seemed poorly prepared to you?

"Oh, tuna. Tuna, tuna, tuna." -Andy Bernard, The Office
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Vegetables pulled out of the dirt behind your restaurant and prepared well don't need much in the way of seasoning. BH seems to focus on the food, with herbs and seasonings more subtle and layered, to emphasize that food.

I would like to understand why you say the food at Bluestem is "better prepared." What about the Blue Hill food seemed poorly prepared to you?

The salad was bland. Virtually no taste. It needed salt, regardless of where the greens were picked from.

The same for the lamp and the snapper.

The vegetables I ate at Bluestem in KC had more of the taste of the actual vegetable than any of the ones I ate at BH at SB. My guess is they were seasoned properly. That goes for the greens, snow peas, mushrooms, etc.

Nice try but I said the food at bluestem was better prepared. I didn't say the food at BH was poorly prepared.

"These pretzels are making me thirsty." --Kramer

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while the actual taste of the chicken was very good compared to other chickens, it was still just chicken. While all of the vegetable accompaniments were very green and clearly fresh, they were devoid of much flavor. The vegetables and herbs I had at my dinner at Bluestem in Kansas City a few weeks ago had better flavor than the Blue Hill vegetables.

To me, there's a big difference between "just chicken," and chickens that are raised 200 yards away from the restaurant, fed, slaughtered and butchered by hand, and prepared by chefs who really care about what they are doing.

I haven't been to Stone Barns, but I always order chicken at Blue Hill. I think it's stunning--one of those ah-so-this-is-how-TK-is-supposed-to-taste experiences.

JJ Goode

Co-author of Serious Barbecue, which is in stores now!

www.jjgoode.com

"For those of you following along, JJ is one of these hummingbird-metabolism types. He weighs something like eleven pounds but he can eat more than me and Jason put together..." -Fat Guy

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Funny,

Visited NY recently & ate at Blue Hill. Wife had chicken & it was bland, but the vegetables were very good(& properly seasoned..v important fabulousfoodbabe). I went for the monkfish & was bitterly disappointed, bland & rather spongy in texture. However a fantastic chocolate bread pudding, with caramel/peanut centre & banana ice-cream perked me up. Then followed a freebie, a fromage blanc(?) souffle which was dense & everything a souffle should not be, at least the rhubarb sorbet it came with was tart/refreshing & tasted like rhubarb. Bit of a rollercoaster really....

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I ate at BHSB last week.

First--I would definitely recommend going there an hour before dinner to just walk the grounds (wear comfortable shoes). The pastoral scene is very calming. the greenhouse very impressive and the archetecture is very nice.

Also the herb gardens are great to see-everything labeled.

Anyway--

We arrived a bit early and had drinks on the "patio" the scene was wonderful--vast fields and an occasional tractor in the distance--we could have been anywhere in the midwest rather than fifteen minutes from bustling Tarrytown.

One of my companions ordered the martini and was disappointed--the pickled ramp was overpowering and added a sweet off putting element to the drink. (a matter of taste but there is still nothing like the classic prep for this drink).

After a while we were led to our table for four. (this is one place where the patio and bar areas are so nicely done one does not mind waiting for a table--the staff was professional and friendly).

I must say that there are elements of praise and some critiques in many of the posts in this thread with which I agree.

THE FOOD

The salads were quite good. My wife had a salad of mixed greens over a scrambled egg--the greens were good and the eggs were good but the combination did not really come together. Two of us had salads with the "fried farm egg" these were very good--the egg prep works well.

I had a cold pea soup special which our waiter informed me was made with no dairy--hard to believe! The soup was so rich and creamy in texture-it was quite good.

I also had a chestnut pasta with braised chicken leg in a mushroom broth. This was good due mostly to the intensely flavored broth. There was very little chicken meat and the pasta was slightly gummy. also-the broth was quite salty--but i did not mind this.

One shrimp dish (I did not taste) was acclaimed by the person who ordered it--"This is the way shrimp really taste"--a clear winner.

The baby lamb was also loved by the two people who tasted it.

I had the berkshire Pig--this was a very nice dish--the flavors were intense and the preparation was interesting--it worked very well.

The chicken--two of us tasted this and I must agree with some of the posters--it is quite bland. Also given the intense flavor of the pork I must say the chicken was disappointing.

I think overall--this is a fine restaurant with some real hits and some misses.

The service was good--the pacing of the dishes was just right--this is food to linger over and savor--the hits and the misses.

Perhaps the quality of ingredients now available to restaurants in the Northeast has risen to the point that even the top notch product used (and grown/raised) at Stone Barns, while superb doesn't really wow us.

The cooking here is most definitely interesting with herbs playing a major role and spices most definitely a bit player, if that.

The whole experience is one of calm. The atmosphere and the food.

I was impressed that even with relatively small portions--I was completely satiated (I did not even want desert--a first for me). This is due to the intensity and richness of the food. Yet I did not feel bloated-I felt quite good!

There is a Zen like quality to the whole experience here.

The only real disappointment was the chicken--it is quite possible that this kind of subtle cooking meant to showcase the freshness and quality of the ingredients also points up any flaws (the cooking almost demands that the main ingredients be flavorful). For example a classic roast chicken with crisp skin garlic, lemmon, herbs is very forgiving if the actual chicken is lacking in flavor. The preparations at BHSB provide little cover for the main ingredients--this is IMOP a great plus here but also--given the difficulties in producing consistant high quality organic products--this is nature after all--and sometimes nature doesn't cooperate perfectly every time.

All in all--BHSB is quite unique--I can't think of many restaurants where the experience--food--atmosphere etc come together so well, so nicely integrated.

While there is a low wow factor (no fireworks in food or ambience)there is a quieting and subtle contemplative aspect that I find very rewarding.

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  • 2 weeks later...
All in all--BHSB is quite unique--I can't think of many restaurants where the experience--food--atmosphere etc come together so well, so nicely integrated.

While there is a low wow factor (no fireworks in food or ambience)there is a quieting and subtle contemplative aspect that I find very rewarding.

I've eaten there so many times -- most recently on Friday evening -- and think you said this well, JohnL. There aren't many restaurants I go to that make me want to come back again and again ... while I loved our meal at Per Se, I felt like it was a once a year, or once a new Executive Chef, experience.

We had ...

-Blackberry cosmos, and a little sparkling wine. Bar food of deep-fried chick peas in aleppo pepper, and skewered mussels that I didn't get to taste because someone ate two -- but I've had it before and am sure it was wonderful

-Three amuse: Shots of cool corn soup with drops of lobster oil -- just a little tiny orange drop that packed a lot of rich flavor. Baby turnips with a bit of salt. Olive oil financiers with goat cheese, tomato and basil. (The financiers had a bit of sweetness and were perfect with the tomatoes and cheese. I'm making some at home as soon as my tomatoes come in.)

-Glasses of green gazpacho with yogurt sorbet. Just the right kick of seasonings, and gorgeous. Not too cold, and the sorbet was kind enough to melt gently as we sipped.

-A miniature version of the farm egg salad -- the poached, fried egg over greens, with a little cucumber puree on the bottom. My favorite.

-Big shrimp over a stew of peas, with toasted pistachios and guanciale. Who knew it would be so wonderful together?

-Wild salmon on top of corn, mushrooms, tomatoes. Our friends thought it was rare, but I know it's how the salmon is cooked -- the color was gorgeous, the doneness was just right, and we were licking our plates. (No, really.) I wonder if they're still poaching in duck fat ...

-Baby lamb with a little kohlrabi puree, turnips and some greens. I ate mine and half of someone else's, who was saving room for dessert :smile: ... which was

-Berries with a big scoop of mint sorbet, and then

-Cherry clafoutis with geranium ice cream.

not to mention the chocolate financiers -- dense and fudgy -- and caramelized cashews with cocoa dusted on top.

Dan came out of the kitchen to say hello! The man is amazing, and his place is hitting its mark -- and staying true to its mission.

"Oh, tuna. Tuna, tuna, tuna." -Andy Bernard, The Office
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  • 1 month later...

My fiancee and I just ate dinner last night, Sunday the 2nd, at BH@SB. Absolutely blown away by the experience. We both can't wait to return. I'm going to try to get Sunday Brunch reservations for around the time of my birthday, at the end of October. My fiancee and I were trying to come up with appropriate words to describe the tastes of the foods we ate there. I came up with "honest" and she agreed. Of course "fresh" came up right away too. Another keyword from my fiancee was "clean." I thought that "clear" was more descriptive.

Allright, let me try to recall the experience from the beginning.

We arrived and parked by valet at around 9:00 for our 9:30 reservation. Walking in, we checked in and sat down in the lounge area while waiting for our table. I had a $12 glass of reisling which was outstanding! The waitress had said it was the best wine by the glass they serve there. At first I thought she was just saying that, but now I suspect she may have been right. It was the best reisling I've ever tasted. Wish I could remember what it was. I think it was from New York. If not from New York, then it might have been from Germany. My fiancee Diana, had a strawberry sangria that was equally impressive. She is something of a sangria-lover, having tasted many sangrias from as many restaurants as she can. I always have at least a sip myself. This one truly was one of the best, if not THE best sangria we've tasted. Very dry and clean tasting. It was made with some kind of French wine, if I recall correctly. We were soon seated underneath the mural, and began our meal. We decided to order the three-course after being explained that courses are portioned differently depending on how many courses and which courses you order. I agree that our portion size was very appropriate for each dish. The amuse was a parmesan-crisp-lollipop, pictured on an earlier post in a photograph here on this thread. First courses were from the seafood category. As you may know, there are different categories you can choose from, and you are allowed to order as many courses from any category you may like. So if you order the four-course meal, you could choose four different categories, or you could only choose one or two categories if you wanted, but you would get four savory courses. Dessert is not included in the number of courses you select. It is ordered seperately at the end. So, back to our first courses. I had red-snapper with seasonal vegetable ragu. (The language I use to describe the food may be inaccurate at times. I am not a chef, or a food writer. Please excuse me if I make some mistakes.) The "ragu" as I am calling it consisted of some local mushrooms, the last of the summer peas, (very sweet!) and some other vegetables I can't quite remember. It was all delicious and exquisite. All the food here is subtle, not overstated. It comes back to that honest, clean and fresh idea I mentioned before. Now, I also want to interject about the service. While we were looking at the menus, I mentioned Per Se in low, hushed tones to Diana. You see, I had eaten at Per Se previously, without her. You can read about my experiences there on my other post under the Per Se thread. In any case, I was making some kind of comment to Diana, my fiancee, comparing the two. I swear to you, I wasn't speaking loudly at all! Our waiter promptly came over and asked me if I was in the business. I am not in the business, so I said no and looked embarrassed. Secretly I felt pretty good that the very whisper of the words "Per Se" will get you the kind of awesome treatment we got that night. Ok, back to the food. Diana's seafood course was cod with local mushrooms, capers, and other vegetables. I really liked it, but she said that she preferred my snapper dish. It may be because she's not really a fan of capers that much. Anyway, both dishes were excellent. Oh yes, I'm almost forgetting about the bread. It was really tasty, buttery, warm, and addictive. We had two baskets with our meal. The butter it was served with was also delicious. Next courses both came from the pasta category. Mine was a pork tortellini, and hers was a corn ravioli with a creamy corn sauce and more local mushrooms. The pork tortellini had butter chard, and more local mushrooms. I also remember the taste of fennel. Both of these pasta dishes were extremely good. Diana and I loved both dishes equally well. Throughout the meal our service was going very well. We had several different waitstaff come to our table for different things, but they were all very good. By far the best though, was our main waiter. He kind of disappeared during the middle part of the meal, and let others serve us, but he re-appeared later on at the end of the night. I will get to that later. Third and final savory courses: I had the lamb, and she had the chicken. Let me go into the chicken first. Quite plainly prepared, laid over roasted corn, summer peas, and some kind of grain I don't remember. Now please don't misunderstand. When I say plainly prepared, I meant that in a good way. The chicken, we both agreed, was the best we had ever tasted. It was subtle, and not overly seasoned, but it was seasoned a little bit, and tasted the way chicken is supposed to taste. It was moist, with a natural butteriness that came through. It was utterly delicious. If you want huge, big, in-your-face flavor, this was not it. However, if you take the time to savor its subtleties, this to me was the ultimate chicken dish. My lamb was also impressive. Cooked to perfection, there were pieces of tenderloin, and also a nicely sized piece of braised shoulder. The tenderloin pieces were very good. Some of them were slightly too chewy for my taste, but it was just a slight bit. I didn't even mention it to Diana. Then some of the pieces of tenderloin I ate later on were not chewy at all. I think maybe they just needed to sit on the plate for a minute or two. The first two pieces I ate were chewier than the rest. The shoulder meat, however, was the best part of this dish. It was so tender, and so tasty! Covered in some kind of coating, like bread-crumbs and mustard seed. It was really outstanding. I would have liked to have had even more of the braised shoulder. I paired it with a glass of french red wine, I can't recall what it was, but it was an excellent match, suggested by the waiter. The lamb dish was served with roasted corn along with some other vegetables. I also ordered the side dish of more sweet roasted corn for $6. It was really good! There was a very subtle spiciness to it that was almost undetectable, but present. Perhaps it was a very light sprinkle of cayanne pepper?

Next came dessert. Diana had the chocolate croquettes, pictured in a photo earlier in this thread. She's still talking about them now! They were really great. The chocolate was rich, without being overpowering. You know how sometimes you order a "rich" chocolate dessert at a place like TGI Fridays or something, and it is artificially rich to the point of being overpowering? This couldn't have been further from it. It was rich, but satisfying. A very honest taste again, like "this is how chocolate should taste." I don't think they make their own chocolate, but it tasted like they did. Very clean. My peach cobbler with peach sorbet and lemon thyme cream was also great. The sorbet tasted literally like an actual peach in sorbet form. I don't know how else to describe it. The texture was right on. Very sweet and tasty. The lemon thyme cream was an excellent complement to the sorbet, and these were served alongside a tiny cast-iron pot of cobbler. The cobbler texture and taste were perfect, as well. Not too sweet. If you mixed the sorbet, cream, and cobbler together in the pot you had a real treat. To end the meal I had a cup of coffee, which was also very good. I happen to be a real coffee lover, and take my coffee very seriously. This was extremely good. Way, way beyond Starbucks. Maybe not the very best coffee of my entire life, but it was definately very good.

Now throughout the meal, I noticed a theme in the tastes that I haven't noticed as much in other restaurants. What I noticed was the way the flavors "spoke up" in the dishes. Now I'm a musician, so I made the mental comparison to a good orchestra. In a good orchestra in a good hall, you can hear all the individual instrumentalists seperately if you concentrate on them seperately. But, you can also hear the overall sound of the instruments blending in perfect harmony if you concentrate on the overall sound. It was the same with the food here at BH@SB. I detected individual flavors throughout my meal, such as fennel, mustard seed, paprika, mushroom, butter, and many many others. These individual flavors spoke up seperately and distinctly. However, they also blended so well in harmony with the overall flavor of the dish. I really appreciated this about the food here more than anything else.

Ok, I said I would mention our waiter again. After the meal was over, he came to our table and offered a tour of the restaurant. Diana had never had a restaurant tour before, and I have only had the ones at Per Se, and at WD50. So, we gladly accepted. He also asked me again if I was in the business, and I replyed that I was not, but that I knew someone who worked at <very famous restaurant in NYC.> I will not name the restaurant here out of respect for my friend and the restaurant he works at, but it's one that is well-respected in this business. I DID name it to our waiter, though. I also made it clear to my waiter that I only knew ONE person, who did NOT have a particularly important job at said restaurant. Now our waiter took us on the tour, and as we approached the kitchen he said to someone there, "these people know LOTS of people at <famous NYC restaurant> and would like to see the kitchen." He specifically said LOTS, even though he knew full well that we only had one rather unimportant friend. Now I know that anyone can get a kitchen tour at BH@SB, and that we were not getting treatment beyond what others get, but I was struck by how friendly everyone was as we went around. Everyone we met waved, and introduced themselves with a big smile. Our waiter and all the staff was extremely warm and friendly. Diana and I were so relieved not to have that pretentious vibe that sometimes comes from other high-end restaurants. BH@SB was anything but pretentious. They were honest, warm, friendly, and helpfull. Diana and I cannot wait to return. I definately give this restaurant my highest review. Although I have heard the rumors of not-so-good service, and not-so-good food; my own experience of this place was basically near-perfect. I really can't think of what could have been done better. Everything exceeded my expectations by a long-shot. I can easily say that this was in the top 2 restaurant experiences of my life. Per Se would be the other. It is tough for me to say which one has the number one spot. Right now I am leaning towards BH@SB for number one. I'll let you all know if that is confirmed after I eat there again. I hope that happens soon!

-James Kessler

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My lamb was also impressive.  Cooked to perfection, there were pieces of tenderloin, and also a nicely sized piece of braised shoulder.  The tenderloin pieces were very good.  Some of them were slightly too chewy for my taste, but it was just a slight bit.  I didn't even mention it to Diana.  Then some of the pieces of tenderloin I ate later on were not chewy at all.  I think maybe they just needed to sit on the plate for a minute or two.  The first two pieces I ate were chewier than the rest.

I had a similar dish at Blue Hill not long ago, minus the braised shoulder and sitting atop corn, black trumped mushrooms and chanterelles. The lamb was cooked sous vide, and consisted of one Frenched lamb chop and what looked like several pieces of lamb loin. We concluded that a few of the pieces of lamb must have been from the shank, however, as the texture and color was entirely different from the texture of the other loin pieces. This would fit with the general idea (more fully expanded in your dish) of giving the diner a taste of different parts of the lamb. Given the cooking technique, which should produce very uniform results, given the provenance of the source material, and given the chefs' reputations for excellence and detail, I can't imagine that a few pieces of "too chewy tenderloin" are making their way onto plates by mistake.

Sounds like you had a great meal!

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