Blue Hills at Stone Barns

This past weekend I enjoyed the gastronomically pleasing cuisine of Chef Barber at his Blue Hills restaurant at Stone Barns, which is a farm about 40 minutes north of New York City. The setting was idyllic: rolling green hills, farm animals lounging (or clucking, mooing, etc.) about, and a massive greenhouse in which lots of recognizable vegetables were grown, and some unrecognizable ones too. Chef Dan Barber has been widely recognized for his farm-to-table style of food, and recently has been taking the "foodie" circles by storm. In 2009 was named James Beard’s Outstanding Chef.

The restaurant is well known for using ingredients produced locally in the Hudson Valley, and primarily from the farm itself. There's a peculiar pleasure one gets from knowing the food you're eating was probably plucked, killed, or otherwise prepared on the premises and within the past 24 hours. The kitchen prepares a menu of courses for each table, based on local ingredients available and in season. You simply tell your server which ingredients you'd rather not eat, and the rest is fair game (so to speak).

The food itself was very good. Simply prepared, lots of great flavor, and highlighting local ingredients. There was a tad too much asparagus for me (we had it in three different preparations --- though the asparagus burgers were surprisingly good), but other than that I enjoyed the food thoroughly. The first course was asparagus centered, the second was brook trout, the third was goat, and the fourth was dessert prepared two ways: either a mint marshmellow with milk sorbet or an asparagus ice cream over a sort of graham cracker.

It is worth the trip? Well, I would argue the the trip is actually part of the fun. After our meal we wandered around the farm. We spent time watching the cows feed, laughing at the pigs rolling in the dirt, and taking pictures of the cute little lambs (no doubt soon destined for the chopping block). Since we went for lunch - only available on Sundays - we had lots of sunlight left after our meal to take a nice walk around the farmland. For those coming from NYC, just the chance to get out of the concrete jungle is almost worth it in itself.

As for the price....well, you just have to suck it up. I'd prefer this food be available less steeply, but I also realize that keeping a farm on a small scale like this is expensive. I believe we paid about $100 per head, including wine, 4 courses, tax and tip. That's not something I can do very often, but it's on par with most other NYC fine dining establishments.

Mr. Chief Justice

An interesting piece on Chief Justice Roberts by Jeffrey Toobin in the recent edition of the New Yorker.

"His jurisprudence as Chief Justice, Roberts said, would be characterized by “modesty and humility.” After four years on the Court, however, Roberts’s record is not that of a humble moderate but, rather, that of a doctrinaire conservative. The kind of humility that Roberts favors reflects a view that the Court should almost always defer to the existing power relationships in society. In every major case since he became the nation’s seventeenth Chief Justice, Roberts has sided with the prosecution over the defendant, the state over the condemned, the executive branch over the legislative, and the corporate defendant over the individual plaintiff. Even more than Scalia, who has embodied judicial conservatism during a generation of service on the Supreme Court, Roberts has served the interests, and reflected the values, of the contemporary Republican Party."

Quotes

At times, even though I have lots to say, I don't have the time to say it here. However, what I thought I could do is include a quotation that gives some insight into what I'm thinking about. For example, currently I'm giving thought to what I should do after I graduate next year. My options are (luckily) plentiful and fulfilling. As I think through these potential paths, a quote comes to mind from Teddy Roosevelt.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

It's always been one of my favorites....of course, T.R. had the benefit of being someone who ended up knowing the "triumph of high achievement"-- he might have spoken differently if he had failed.

Rain Rain Go Away

My first week of summer in New York is filled with rain. Out of the next 6 days, 5 will see lots of rain. This is rather disappointing. Plans to go hiking, climbing, and just wandering around Central Park have been rather quickly and, in my view, unfairly derailed. Of course, last weekend when I was locked in the library from morning 'til dusk studying hard the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Sometimes I think Murphy was on to something.

After a week in New York, I head to California. I pray the weather there shall be better.

The Summer of Ozymandias

I had my last final exam yesterday, had way too much to drink last night in celebration, and today is the first day of my summer vacation.

Unlike summers past, this summer will not find me working or stressing about anything in particular. Well, that's not quite true, because old habits are hard to break. But I'll be fighting the temptation, because this summer I plan to take a bite of out of life. Currently my plans include 2 weddings, travel across the United States (perhaps twice), a long trip to Europe (exact locations TBD), and a long trip to one additional continent -- probably either Africa or South America. Planned activities include lots of reading, contemplation about life's big decisions, plenty of physical activity, and catching up with old & new friends. If you're reading this and have some free time this summer, no matter where in the world you are, drop me a line. Odds are I'll be in your neck of the woods at some point, and I've got nothing but time.

Let the summer begin.