Dinner at Blue Hill

Good food, bad pictures

Last night my foodie coworkers and I went for dinner at Blue Hill. Blue Hill is on of the main restaurants credited for driving the whole "local, seasonal food" approach to cooking that has become a trend in NY. Ingredients come from nearby farms, including Blue Hill Farm and Stone Barns. The commitment of this restaurant to support local produce and artisanal techniques is really amazing. Click on this link to see their website, learn about their food philosophy and see some gorgeous pictures of their restaurants, dishes and produce.

We tried to make a reservation to go eat at the Blue Hill in Stone Barns (45 minutes outside of NY), but it was impossible. We called more than a month ago and all they could give us was a table on July 5 at some very odd hour, so we decided to go to their restaurant here in the city.

I regret to say that I have no good pictures of dinner because the lighting was so low! The atmosphere was very serious, so I decided not subject the other guests to annoying flashes from my camera. The only decent one I took was that of my wine glass, pictured above. However, I thought that I could at least share the menu items I ordered:

Appetizer - "This Morning's Farm Egg": a slow-poached, beautiful and perfectly runny egg with morels, peas and pine nuts

Entree - Berkshire Pig: Cuts of pork loin and pig belly with sugar snap peas, shiitake mushrooms and pistachios. As part of their philosophy, Blue Hill goes thorugh a whole lamb and a whole pig throug the night, so the cuts you get are dependent on what part of the pig the chef has gotten to. We got lucky and enjoyed the contrast of a lean cut and a fatty cut.

Sides: Creamy parsnips and marinated beets. The creamy parsinps were so light and delicious!

Dessert: Rhubarb with poached meringue, crème fraîche and tapioca. I am not a big fan of dessert but this one was really delicious, light and intricate. I really wish I could have taken a picture of this one.

Overall, dinner was extremely good, but it was not the most amazing food experience I have had in NY. My dinner at Le Bernadin remains as my most sublime food experience in the city.