My sister is a complete nut when it comes to sustainable, organic food. My family shops at Whole Foods to placate her, but every once in a while she’ll send us e-mails telling us that we will contribute to world collapse if we don’t start growing our food in our backyard. I’m not sure if her claims are correct, but it can’t hurt to eat locally - particularly if it’s excellent food.

The answer is the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. My connection to Stone Barns started last year when my sister became an intern specializing in visitor education. From their about page:

Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture is a farm, a kitchen, a classroom–an exhibit, a laboratory, a campus. The mission of this unique, nonprofit, member-driven collaboration is to celebrate, teach and advance community-based food production and enjoyment, from farm to classroom to table.

The farm is nice, but I don’t really care that much about the sustainablility aspect. I know it’s sustainable because people I trust told me so; I don’t need to watch how the expert farm people milk cows to understand from where my food comes. This approach is simplistic, I know, but it’s the food that makes Stone Barns special.

The restaurant is related to the New York City “Blue Hill.” This rural outpost is aptly named “Blue Hill at Stone Barns.” Very clever. To make a long story short (I really want to play with my iPhone 3G; geeky people will understand) the food is really good, from the farm on location, and it’s very expensive ($125 per person from the Farmer’s Table selection at the momet). The amazing thing is that for the Farmer’s Table, you can order off the menu, but a waiter comes over and asks you what your likes and dislikes are, after which the chef prepares something unique. That’s dining Apple style.

I’ll be back with an iPhone 3G review ASAP.