An Evening at Blue Hill

An evening at Dan Barber’s Blue Hill promises the freshest of ingredients directly from the farm in upstate New York, mouth watering amuse-bouches and a who's-who of culinary luminaries. This couldn't have been more true on an evening this past winter when a very good friend of mine and I decided that Blue Hill would be the perfect restaurant to try in the middle of a recession.

We had just begun enjoying our starters when the couple next to us seemingly began to feud. The woman, sitting on the inside of the table, bolted as if from a visceral need to escape the presence of her significant other. After several minutes, an older woman at the bar seemed to have calmed her down enough to return to the table.

We tried not to look at them, or wonder what was going on. Just before I could no longer contain myself, the couple turned to us and told us that we simply had to hear what was happening. As it turns out, the two were in fact not in the midst of a heated lovers' quarrel, but instead co-authors at Blue Hill celebrating the completion of their new book, which was soon to be released (and the woman she ran up to just happened to be Dorothy Hamilton, Founder of the French Culinary Institute).

The discussion of the book turned into a discussion on food, then a discussion on life, and how to make the right choices. It seems that knowing your way around the kitchen is a great metaphor for knowing your way around the world- or at least New York. Ben and I made sure to buy the book as soon as it was available.

This past Saturday, we were able to attend what was perhaps the first book signing for Notes on Cooking at The Conran Shop in New York. We were pretty sure Lauren and Russell would remember us, but we never expected the reaction we got. Best of luck to both of you!

Be sure to check out Lauren’s website here.