Launching today, 13th January, Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, USA, begins a Chef-in-Residence series that will see cooks with diverse culinary perspectives showcase their own food using Hudson Valley produce. Gen-up and make a booking with the essential information below
US chef Dan Barber announced last year that his New York State restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns – which ranked No.28 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna – would not be reopening in 2021 in its former guise.
In a letter addressed to his staff, he announced that he would be parting from the pass – a decision he says to have been contemplating for some time – in order to put in place a Chef-in-Residence series. This run of dinners and experiences, taking place across the first half of 2021, begins today, 13th January, with the final reservation available on 8th May.
Part of the Blue Hill at Stone Barns kitchen garden
What is a Chef-in-Residence series?
Think of it like a prolonged guest chef event with an in-built educational platform. The Chef-in-Residence programme of Barber’s design will see one chef given the run of the Blue Hill at Stone Barns kitchen for a five-week period. Each chef will be taking the produce from the Stone Barns Center and other Hudson Valley producers and interpreting it through the lens of their own cuisine.
How has Barber selected the chefs?
Chef Barber has said that he wants to prioritise cooks who may have lost their kitchen due to the pandemic, those who are between jobs and those who might not have had the opportunity to cook at a facility such as his. Barber’s selection of chefs is widely diverse, as he looks to bring new styles of cooking to his regular restaurant guests.
Why is Barber doing it?
The chef has long been a proponent of indigenous cuisine and ingredients. Last year, he pledged to help combat “racial and gender inequities” in the kitchen and the Chef-in-Residence series is a part of this. “There has been a reckoning in our industry, and we’ve heard and discussed many pointed, structural questions about the system that we uphold, especially about racial and gender inequities,” he said in the letter to his staff. In addition to the dining series, each guest will be offered virtual education and cooking classes linked to the guest chef’s cooking and ideology.
How do I make a reservation?
Use the restaurant’s booking link here. A guaranteed ticket to one night at each of the four chefs’ residencies is available for $1,000; individual tickets are priced at $250. All proceeds from the series support Stone Barns Center’s non-profit mission.
MEET THE CHEFS
Season One: 13th January – 6th February
Shola Olunloyo
Nigerian chef Olunloyo has brought the big flavours and key techniques of his home country to Philadelphia with a series of pop-ups, work in restaurant kitchens and his Studio Kitchen project, which delivers restaurant-grade meals to diners’ homes.
In Barber’s words: “I was introduced to Shola through Chef Bill Yosses, the former White House pastry chef who will be supporting Shola’s residency dessert menu. Shola has worked in some of the toughest kitchens in the industry and has been doing incredibly interesting and scientific work at his kitchen laboratory in Philadelphia. After tasting his mind-blowing take on traditional Yoruba Nigerian cuisine, I knew he was the one to open Season One.”
Season Two: 17th February – 13th March
Omar Tate
Tate was Esquire magazine’s Chef of The Year 2020 and is also a highly knowledgeable historian and celebrated poet. His menu at Blue Hill will be an exploration of Blackness in America, following the journey of north-eastern migration. 
In Barber’s words: “Fine dining is rooted in hedonism. Omar upends that status quo in all the best ways, confronting diners with dishes that demand more – they centre themes including blackface, migration of Black communities to the northeast, preservation practices of enslaved peoples, and his own family histories. With a talent for poetry and preservation alike, it is our honour to have our second Philadelphia-based chef join the cohort.”
Book here when Tate’s reservations open on 2nd February
Season Three: 17th March – 10th April
Johnny Ortiz
A Taos Pueblo (New Mexico) indigenous chef, Ortiz previously worked as sous chef at Saison, the San Francisco restaurant that ranked No.70 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019. Chef Ortiz’s menus will interpret the indigenous foodways of the American Southwest and its Mexican influence.
In Barber’s words: “Johnny's food draws inspiration from his childhood growing up on the Taos Pueblo reservation. His emphasis on foraging, hunting, and his own handcrafted landscape-inspired ceramics are a look at the future of good food: grounded in place, historical and delicious. How will he interpret the Hudson Valley landscape through his unique and deeply insightful lens?”
Book here when Ortiz’s reservations open on 2nd March
Season Four: 14th April – 8th May
Victoria Blamey
New York Times three-star chef Blamey, formerly of Gotham Bar & Grill, which closed in March 2020, will bring her Chilean roots to Stone Barns for a menu that applies South American technique and influences to the estate’s produce.
In Barber’s words: “Victoria led the iconic Gotham Bar & Grill kitchen with all the expertise that one might imagine for a chef of her calibre and experience. Her highly technical food is remarkable in its depth of flavour and whole-animal approach. With her menus, she’ll be exploring her native Chile. With one of the most diverse geographies in the world, seasonality and fresh ingredients are at the heart of the cuisine. She’s just the right chef to experiment with the spring bounty of Hudson Valley agriculture.”
Book here when Blamey’s reservations open on 31st March
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