Q: When did you start with the farm-to-table food movement?
A: Growing up, I spent my summers on Blue Hill Farm, my grandmother's farm in the Berkshires, haying the fields. I think that it quietly gave me a sense of responsibility about the land, and about preserving open spaces.
Q. Where did you train?
A: After I graduated from the French Culinary Institute, I spent a year in France, working at Michel Rostang in Paris and Le Clos de la Violette in Aix-en-Provence.
Q. You run both Blue Hill restaurants as a family. Who does what?
A: We're a family business, collaborating and using all our strengths. Laureen, my sister-in-law, has an incredible design and marketing sensibility. There have been times that I've thought about things she's proposed, Really? I don't see it. But when I experience the results, I cannot imagine the outcome any other way. She always gets it right. My brother David has the job of making Blue Hill a viable business. Not as easy as it seems (especially when I'm buying the food).
Q. What are the produce-growing and livestock-raising practices at Blue Hill at Stone Barns?
A: We are lucky to have Stone Barns Center to draw from; it's a four-season farm with eight acres of outdoor vegetable production, a 23,000-square-foot greenhouse, and 15 acres of pasture. Jack Algiere, the produce farmer, grows what is best for this locality, and Craig Haney only raises animals that the pasture can support, in a manner that ensures they have nice lives. In the end, by using the most ecological practices, they provide the most delicious results.
Q. You cook so seasonally; which is your favorite?
A: I hear a lot of complaints about farming in the Northeast, but the cold weather is perfect for root vegetables. In fall, the plants convert their starches to sugars to survive, so we get the sweetest possible carrots and turnips.
Q. How do kids get involved at Blue Hill?
A: The Stone Barns Center provides a path for people of all ages to participate and learn. For children and families, there are hands-on programs, like pick-your-own eggs and farm-to-table cooking classes. Special events like the center's annual Sheep Shearing Day (May 16 this year) and Harvest Fest (October 3) allow families to engage in farm activities together. The center also offers school programs that complement and integrate with New York State education curricula, after-school programs, and a popular summer day camp.
You can come and spend the day walking the farm or taking a class, and then stay for dinner in the restaurant. Hopefully you leave saying, "Wow, my kids had such a great time, and we ate such delicious food—I'd like to replicate that experience at home."
Q. When it comes to cooking with kids, when and how does one best get them involved?
A: When? Right away. How? By cooking, or planting a garden, or just teaching kids where their food comes from. My niece Stephanie, age 20, cooks with me and is my most successful protégé.
Q. Do you have any cooking tips you'd like to share?
A: Get to know a farmer. Shake the hand of the person growing your food.
Q. What are your most successful dishes for kids and parents alike?
A: As a chef, I hate to say this: The best dishes I prepare for kids who visit the kitchen at Blue Hill are the ones I just rinse and serve. If a child who refuses to eat salad picks it for herself, she is more likely to not only give it a try but to enjoy it. Brush a little dirt off one of the center's incredibly sweet greenhouse carrots, and you're suddenly the best chef in the world.
Q: What is the most memorable meal you've ever eaten?
A: My aunt's scrambled eggs—whisked over a double boiler, then finished with pounds of butter and herbs. I still remember how they slid down my throat.
Q: Favorite guilty food indulgence?
A: Ice cream, out of the carton.
Q: What is your single most important cooking tool?
A: A spoon. The most indispensable kitchen tool is also the most basic, and often the most misused. I'm particular about the spoons used at both Blue Hills—we use one kind, and I think it's the right-size spoon for plating and the right-size spoon for tasting. It's not too big; it's not too small. I want everyone to have the same consistency, because the spoon—whether you're flipping a piece of fish, or you're stirring rice, or you're tasting a sauce—becomes an extension of your hand.
Q: What are your favorite off-the-radar ingredients that others should know about?
A: Salsify in winter; pastured eggs in summer.
Q: Where do you like to food shop?
A: In New York City, the Union Square Greenmarket is a really super market. It's a whole-foods agora for anyone who loves food and cooking.
Q: What do you like to cook for yourself?
A: Depends on the time of year, but how about pasta and tomato sauce? There isn't anything much better than that in the middle of the summer.
Q: What is your favorite meal in a hurry?
A: Gorp. I've always loved gorp.
Q: Of the food-related charities you're involved with, what would you like to see getting more attention and why?
A: In addition to the Stone Barns Center, I've worked with organizations like Harvard Medical School's Center for Health and the Global Environment, the Kellogg Foundation, and New York City's Greenmarkets. We've all seen the effects of the local-foods movement, and it's been tremendous. These organizations address institutional changes as well—like school-lunch programs and hospitals and food banks.
Q: What is your most memorable family meal or tradition?
A: Every year our whole family goes up to Blue Hill Farm for Thanksgiving. It's been a tradition since the 1970s, when my grandmother bought the farm. It's rare that I get to sit down with my family over a meal, so that feels pretty special.
