Farm to City Table Fresh
Blue Hill is truly a gem not only in Greenwich Village, but in all of New York City. They exemplify the farm to table concept better than any other restaurant in the area, and for good reason. All ingredients are sourced fresh and locally so that diners can really experience and taste the difference. Inside the restaurant, you can also find a great atmosphere. It’s not very loud, so everyone can hear what’s being said at the table; but at the same time, you can hear the subtle background noise of other conversations, and they all seem to be saying one thing – how good the food is.
Blue Hill gave me a great impression right off the bat. Our waitress was very attentive and knowledgeable about each and every detail pertaining to the menu. The bread they served was terrific. It was slightly warm with a crunchy thin crust on the outside and a small chew still on the inside.
Our amuse bouches started with beat burgers garnished with caper leaves.
Next, we had some lightly salted kale chips with a nice crispy texture that still retained a strong taste of kale. The presentation of the kale standing tall on a wooden slab was nice too.
To finish off our amuse bouches, we had a small platter of charcuterie consisting of salami (first picture above) and pork shoulder coppa (second picture above).
To accompany our bread and amuse bouches, we were also given special housemade butter (top), lardo (middle top), and fennel salt (middle bottom), in addition to the normal butter (bottom) served at the table. Our favorite was the really rich and flavorful lardo.
For our first course, we had this morning’s poached farm egg with asparagus marmalade, bio char red onion and greenhouse greens. The egg was undeniably fresh in taste, as the yolk slowly oozed out of it’s egg white casing when cut into. On the lighter side, the dish was a nice start to the rest of the meal. This course was paired with a crisp minerally wine from northern Italy.
Next, the second course was a purple potato and ricotta gnocchi with shitake mushrooms, hazelnuts and stone barns coppa. The colorful presentation really complimented the earthy and nutty taste of the dish. This was paired with a nice crisp white wine, also from Italy, that brought out the earthy notes even more.
The third course was a Hudson Valley duck with Charleston gold rice, asparagus and lamb’s quarters. The duck was seasoned well and cooked perfectly so that each bite was tender and juicy. A medium-bodied red wine blend of Grenache and Syrah from France was paired perfectly with the duck. It brought all the components together well and had a great clean finish to top everything off.
The fourth course was a strawberry and red wine soup with pink peppercorn sorbet. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the flavors in this dish, but the spiciness from the peppercorn really cut into everything else and stole the show, adding another interesting dimension.
The fifth and last course was a steamed goat cheesecake with poached rhubarb and yogurt sorbet. Each deconstructed component of this dish was amazingly delicious. The soft creamy texture of the cheesecake married perfectly with the crunchy fresh granola. A sweet moscato from Italy balanced well with all the components of the dish.
We finished our meal with a couple chocolate bites, a blood orange truffle and a honey chocolate. The truffle had a nice hint of orange flavor that balanced the chocolate. Needless to say, on the opposite side of the spectrum though, the honey chocolate was incredibly sweet.
Overall, Blue Hill meets its expectations as one of the best restaurants in New York City and deserves its Michelin star award. Not only is all the food fresh and delicious, you can really feel the effort that goes into each plate, starting from the ingredients to the cooking and finally to the presentation. Service is excellent throughout the meal, making the dining experience even more enjoyable. I simply cannot wait for my next meal at Blue Hill, or maybe even Blue Hill at Stone Barns.
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