Blue Hill at Stone Barns, tucked into Pocantico Hills, is one of the most decorated restaurants in the country. The story of how it got there starts on a run-down farm two states away.
A Grandmother's Farm in the Berkshires
Ann Marlowe Straus, grandmother of chefs Dan and David Barber, bought a 138-acre farm in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. By her own account, the place was a mess when she got it. Cows pastured in the front yard, and the barn and house were run-down and dirty. She loved it anyway, and named it Blue Hill Farm.
Dan Barber spent his childhood summers there, and it left a mark. Long before he became a chef, the farm taught him how directly the land shapes what ends up on the plate.
Honoring It in Greenwich Village
In April 2000, Dan, David, and David's wife Laureen opened a restaurant in a landmark Greenwich Village building that had once been a speakeasy. They named it Blue Hill, after the farm that started it all. Today that space carries on as Family Meal at Blue Hill.
Pocantico Hills Came Calling
Four years later, the Barbers were invited to open a second location on a much bigger stage. The newly formed Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, built inside a former dairy barn on the old Rockefeller estate in Pocantico Hills. Blue Hill at Stone Barns opened in 2004, pairing Dan Barber's kitchen with the farm just outside its windows.
A Meal Fit for Heads of State
In 2010, that pairing got noticed at the highest possible level. First Lady Michelle Obama hosted a farm-to-table luncheon at Blue Hill at Stone Barns for spouses of heads of state attending the United Nations General Assembly, with Dan Barber speaking alongside her and guests touring the working farm.
Now One of the Most Celebrated in the Country
In 2016, Eater named Blue Hill at Stone Barns the best restaurant in America. Today it holds two Michelin stars and a Michelin Green Star for sustainability, making it one of only two Michelin-starred restaurants in all of Westchester County. Dan Barber has also picked up multiple James Beard awards along the way.
A seat isn't cheap or easy to get. The tasting menu runs $458 per guest, paid in full when you book, and reservations for both the Main Dining Room and the more casual Cafeteria release through Tock on the 15th of each month. What you eat depends entirely on what's actually growing on the farm that day.
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