Blue Hill
“Let's just say everything tasted top-notch and was all naturally grown on the restaurant's farm in Massachusetts!”
“I plan on taking a trip up to Tarrytown to visit the barn and I know I will not be disappointed.”
“The "strawberries and cream" dessert with lemon cake was light with the right balance of sweetness and tartness.”
Blue Hill
Takes Reservations: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$$$ Price range Above $61
8 reviews
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We went with the 6-course Farmer's Feast tasting menu for $98 and did not regret it. Overall I felt it was good value and you could appreciate the farm to table aspect + artistry of the food in a comfortable, yet intimate environment. If you haven't seen the episode on Netflix's Chef's Table – watch it then make a reservation!
The standouts from 2/25/15 tasting menu were the roasted oysters w/carrots, paprika and trout roe… the flavors paired so well together and it was my first time having roasted oysters! Yum! The three year old grass fed beef was also very tender and had a subtle flavor unique to how they raise their cattle – they say their cows are happy! 🙂 Lastly, sprouted and malted triticale for dessert was delicious! I don't know if I've ever had triticale (hybrid of wheat and rye) but I loved the concept of having a grain for dessert..loved the texture with a little bit of sweetness with the ice cream.
We came to New York prepared for the cold, but sans "dressy attire". I ended up having to shamefully walk into the restaurant in Nike sneakers (or it would have been Uggs) and I didn't feel them shaming me – if anything it might have been the older patrons dining with them who looked surprised. My bad!
It's also one of the few restaurants I've been to where on the menu they ask you "please do not use your cell phone in the dining room" which I think is fair – come for the experience – it also helps set a tone in the restaurant. I still quickly took photos but clearly did not text/check email/gab on the phone.
Our server Kayla was fantastic – friendly, professional and service was spot on.
We were in in 30June16 for my brother-n-laws 40th birthday. We got or seats pretty quickly, you have to get reservations way in advance. The one thing I did notice rather quickly was the dress code was not really being met. I always stress about if I'm meeting the standard the site states elegant casual. There were people in t-shirts. I mean at least put on a nice button down and slacks.
On to the important topics. The food and drinks.
Few people in the party had crop tops and they were very good.
The beer selection that night was great. I would highly recommend grits 'n' greens. Great beer with a super balance. Went well with my dinner.
The food changes so often no reason for me to describe every course. Just know that every single ingredient of every single course had so much thought put into it. I mean down to feeding chickens certain colors to change the color of the yolk.
I also enjoyed and appreciated the visual effects the staff would bring out, describe what you are eating and educate you on lesser known ingredients.
Small and I mean super small ding for them clearing plates and courses before insuring guest were finished. They cleared a pea purée with fennel before everyone was finished enjoying it and cleared our cherries before we were finished. They were so good and we had three left.
Also, through miscommunication I'm sure they offered more bread a few times, which had amazing butter with it, and never brought it until we said something.
All in all this is the best meal top to bottom that I've eaten. It is a must go.
To be completely honest, coming off the hype of Chef's Table and Third Plate (Dan Barber's book) I was expecting my mind to be blown by the orgasmic freshness of the asparagus. But I walked away from the meal feeling like the wow factor was missing.
Part of the reason might have been the minimal description of the dishes from the servers. They mumbled some ingredients but definitely could have expanded — after all, we're here because we want to know where the food came from!
My fiancé and I both ordered the tasting menu ($89), which comes with three dishes and one dessert. It's a decent amount of food, but we had to fill up on three rounds of bread (which was amazing) to feel satisfied. Everything was plated beautifully. Standouts were the morning egg with mushrooms (that yolk!) and the vegetable dishes. However, the meat dishes (lamb belly and pork) were not that exciting or interesting compared to the earlier dishes. Perhaps the farmers feast would have been the better option.
I'm still really glad I got to experience Blue Hill and Dan Barber's culinary talents, but I can't help but feel that dining at the farm must be vastly superior than this location because you're more connected to the food and educated about what you're being served. The service, while pleasant enough, didn't illuminate the experience much for me.
My friend brought me here for a belated birthday dinner (I was in Spain!). We both had the farmer's feast and it was very interesting. Food was great and natural- definitely challenged your pallet. Also asked you to concentrate on the pure ingredients and what you were tasting at the time. Unlike most of the reviews, I left very very very full after… Lots of small plates but very filling!
I absolutely love Blue Hill – I highly, highly recommend a visit! They deserve more than two stars, in my opinion. It was at Blue Hill that I had the best chicken of my life – I'm sure due to both how well it was cooked as well as Dan Barber's attention to raw, quality ingredients. Sometimes I still dream about my meal, mm.
It was as I was holding the stalk of my small radish and taking a crunchy bite that my wife quipped, "The chefs must be laughing at us.", and it felt true looking down at my single radish with a chomp taken out of it. Each dish looks so simple and minimal that you start to wonder what you got yourself into. But it is the art of minimalism and the focus of what each should be is what brings the normal into the special. Even the bread and custom butter was something to remember.
Due to their "no cell phone policy" I forced myself not to take pictures of all my dishes (but they couldn't see me in the bathroom muhahaha!).
Also the radish was delicious.
We celebrated our anniversary at Blue Hill. We had heard about the Blue Hill Stone farms from friends and were completely intrigued. Its so amazing that a chef would own a farm that provides most of the produce for the restaurant. This is an extremely popular restaurant and reservations are hard to come by, especially on weekends. We were able to get a 9 30 pm reservation, booking almost a month in advance. So if you want to try this place plan early.
They called to confirm, asked if we had any allergies, if we were celebrating anything. My wife does not eat red meat, so I let them know that.We were about 10 minutes late, but they sat us down immediately. However they didn't even offer to take my wife's trench coat, and we weren't sure if there was a coast closet, but later realized there was on and the hostess saw my wife take off her coat before sitting down, so I don't know what happened. Not sure if this is how the restaurant usually operates but the time between the courses felt unusually long.
The food itself was exactly what it promises to be, fresh, innovative and most importantly really tasty. We started with vegetables with pea-sto, the vegetables were fresh and the pea-sto complemented it perfectly. Then we had the broccoli rabe tarts, which were not my favorite, the broccoli rabe was great, the tart shell was a tad bit eggy for my taste. I did the Farmers feast and my wife had the daily menu. My shrimp toast was very tasty, the sauce that came with it was divine. My wife got the crab meat with broccoli rabe and it OK. I had the Goose egg noodles and my wife just sat that course out.The noodles were OK, again too eggy for my taste, but I am sure lots of people love that. After that I had the egg course, pullet egg I think and that is where they wowed me, just spectacular. This is the kind of egg dish I can get behind. Loved it. My wife had the Halibut, and it was so delicate and really tasted amazing. I got the farm pig the next course, how can you go wrong with that, three different cuts of the pig, belly being my absolute favorite for sure. My wife got Parsnip steak with creamed spinach, potato cake and some squash puree, because she didn't want the pork sauce that came with it. I cannot believe they could make parsnip taste this good. Very impressive. After that they also gave us a palette cleanse, rhubarb with the yoghurt sorbet, divine again. For dessert I had the famous triticale with beer ice cream, I have to admit that I am not a big fan of the beer ice cream, but it all worked well together. I liked my wife's dessert much better, it was apple 3 ways I think, there was green apple sorbet, red apples cooked in something and some apple crisps with cream. It was wonderful. Also have to mention the amazing bread and butter that they serve. Superb. While we were having dessert, Chef Dan Barber, walked out and went home. Its always nice to know we ate on the day the chef was in the kitchen 🙂
I think this is a fantastic restaurant, not a everyday dining place. They are priced fairly for the effort and food. I do wish they improve a little bit with the whole experience. Talking a bit more to their patrons and focussing on giving them a better experience like so many other restaurants of this calibre in NYC do.
Honestly, a 4.5 star experience overall. We had reservations for 6pm for 5 people and when we showed up, we were promptly seated. The menu is straight forward and from making the reservation a month ahead of time, they make sure to know your allergies and other special accommodations. Service was on the slow side of prompt but it was nice since we did not feel rushed or hurried to finish up our meal. Half of our table got the Farmer's Feast and the other their fixed price menu.
All the courses came out in an organized and orchestrated way, with explanations which I appreciated. The farm-to-table theme was definitely observed as there was a surfeit of asparagus, strawberries and rhubarb on the menu that evening. Everything was well seasoned and tasted great though I do wish there was maybe one or two more bites to each dish. The kitchen does send out complementary small dishes to the table like fresh spring radishes and various pickled fruits at the end of the meal. My only critique was that while the food was well prepared, I do wish there was a bit more variety in they were incorporated into the dishes. Most of the veggies came out charred or roasted; preparation was simple for the sake of highlighting the ingredients which I get, but I think some variety in the preparation would have been great too.
They happily accommodated a gluten-free request at our table with different bread and appetizers which was nice!