If there was ever a compelling reason to leave the city that never sleeps, Phoebe Wood has found it on a journey of discovery through New York State’s premier produce-driven region, including a meal that changes everything she knows about food.
A sprawling collection of counties, upstate New York’s Hudson Valley has become a hub of urban distilleries, artisan breweries, hillside vineyards, small-scale farming operations and paddock-to-plate dining experiences.
As a result, where once the notoriously high cost of living in Manhattan pushed young people into neighbouring Brooklyn and Queens, the next generation is now migrating north to the home of Woodstock. And it’s Dan Barber (pictured below), acclaimed chef and owner of Blue Hill at Stone Barns and voice of sustainable food production, who has put the valley on the global destination-dining map.
Barber’s restaurant in Pocantico Hills is widely regarded as the most exciting and forward-thinking of its time. Since opening in 2004, his purposeful approach to food and agriculture has permeated the ethos of restaurants around the world. Barber considers the farm and restaurant equal counterparts; a symbiotic relationship where one cannot exist without the other. Produce is grown both locally in the Hudson Valley and at Barber’s family farm in Massachusetts, and dishes are curated by the chefs daily depending on what is in season and available.
At Blue Hill, guests are invited to participate in an immersive meal like no other. In lieu of a menu, diners receive a produce journal to guide them through their experience, detailing in-season farm produce. A selection of vegetables, dressed in the lightest of vinaigrettes, is served before a dizzying succession of dishes: wedges of just-dried peach with a smattering of poppyseeds; a corn cob-infused ‘lemonade’ that takes the concept of waste-free to the next level; and a lip-smacking savoury pepper and watermelon gazpacho that makes me completely reassess my stance on cold soup.
A curious dish of sun flower ‘marrow’ – made by extracting the gummy white plant fresh from the stalk – enthralls. The creamy marrow is served with the raw fresh seeds and delicate yellow flower petals. Waitstaff theatrically shepherd the human-sized flowers around the dining room as they explain the dish, allowing the ingredients to tell the story of the land.
It’s a dining experience that combines extraordinary elegance with precision and playfulness. Our first 10 courses are served without cutlery, and as the meal progresses, we’re invited to eat slices of beef served on the polished shoulder bone of a cow, alongside slices of trombocino squash that has been preserved and air-dried in a waxy layer of the beef fat. By course 18, we’re plucking fried duck feet from a pile of dried grass and confidently discerning between the flavours of two single-udder house- churned butters from Blue Hill cows Alice and Billy. A mid-meal excursion delights, with a plate of deliciously ripe summer tomatoes accompanied by a bouquet of herbs and milky goat’s cheese served in the kitchen among the chefs.
The ideas are complex and intelligent, and the plates are refreshingly unique. Cleverly connecting the dots of the journey from farm, to plate, to mouth, Barber’s bottom line translates in every dish.
The chef’s right-hand man and Stone Barns’ Center for Food and Agriculture’s farm director, Jack Algiere, says: “The restaurant is a great counterpart [to the farm] as they have worked so closely with us on not just creating a farm-to-table concept, but literally riding the tides of the seasons with us. Not having menus, and building dishes around very speci c seasons, crops and the farm, and then interpreting those dishes and nding better methods, better varieties, better techniques.”
Barber imparts this commitment to farming practices to his entire kitchen team, says young Australian Blue Hill chef Kylie Millar, whose impressive resume spans Attica, Mugaritz and Pei Modern. “Working at Blue Hill has opened my eyes to how we use produce at home and in restaurant kitchens. The thought- provoking concepts that Dan introduces in his restaurant address the future of food and how food could be grown or reared in a way that is not only delicious and good for the farmer, but is able to be sustained for years to come.”
An intelligent food system is at work here and, while it may have been brought to the forefront by Barber, you’ll find it throughout the valley, with restaurants proudly sourcing and advocating the use of local ingredients to showcase the best of the region on a plate. If this is the future of food, then the Hudson Valley is paving the way. And it’s all just two hours from bustling Manhattan.
BEYOND BLUE HILL
FOOD: The Amsterdam is an 18th-century townhouse in the town of Rhinebeck, and offers produce-driven dishes and house-made charcuterie from ex-Boulud chef Alex Burger, alongside prohibition- style cocktails. The super-chic hotel- restaurant at the Roundhouse in Beacon is raising the bar, with dishes such as young potato broth drizzled with carrot top pistou and avocado oil standing out.
MARKETS & FAIRS: From Amenia, Arlington, Beacon and Poughkeepsie,
a bounty of seasonal produce is available. Think organic meat, artisan pickles and ferments, eggs, honey and stunning maple products. If visiting in late August, don’t miss out on the 177-year-old Dutchess County Fair.
DRINKS: Head to Hudson Valley brewery for speciality sour IPAs. Visit on the weekend when the pop-up kitchen from Momo Valley Dumplings serves up spicy Nepalese dumplings drenched in homemade chilli sauce – the perfect foil for the tangy ales. An impressive range of handcrafted spirits from uber-cool Dennings Point distillery includes gin, vodka and a cracking bourbon. America’s oldest continuously operating vineyard is the Brotherhood winery in Washingtonville, where sparkling wines and rosé are highlights. Back in Dutchess County, try much-lauded oaky chardonnays at Millbrook Vineyards.
NATURE: A commitment to supporting the region’s biodiversity is at work throughout the valley, and there are countless opportunities to take in wild forests and sprawling nature reserves, from camping in Ferncliff forest to hiking trails in the Pawling nature reserve. The Walkway over the Hudson is the perfect spot for sweeping views of the region.
ART: Dia:Beacon gallery features compelling collections dating back to the ’60s. The gallery’s support for artists and their vision has resulted in some of the most impressive pieces in the country.
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