Fancy Pants: Bradley Farm Lunch with David Bouley

To be honest, the Bouley 2nd Annual Farm to Table Event at Bradley Farm was almost a disaster; heavy rains and wind wreaked havoc on the set-up and limited movement throughout the property, and Chef David Bouley didn’t arrive until an hour and a half after the start time, which means that instead of canapes the day started with some complaining.  Thankfully, Chef arrived just as I was beginining to eye the Bradley Farms pet pigs as a lunch alternative; shortly after waiters were navigating the hungry crowd with small plates of hors d’oeuvres and the mood lifted dramatically once Kevin Zraly took center stage.  His insight, humor, and of course WINE kept the crowd at bay and all of the goats and pigs in the petting zoo safe from harm.  Everyone, take note: Nothing pacifies a crowd or soothes over any delays in service like booze; if anything is going slightly off-course, be sure to have liquor on offer and plenty of it.

The setting was not “farm-like”, or “rustic chic”- this was farm to table literally served at a table outside in the farm.  The barn was charming and the produce on display were beautiful, the goats and pigs all entertaining, but this meal was not full of frills, and that is what made it so special: Lack of a beautiful day and the natural environment really kept the quality and specialness of the food as the focus- when everything else was stripped away, you were left to take in how extraordinary  the food really was. The presentation and flavors were the result of the expert manipulation of  fresh food that is readily available. Everything that we ate that day was a wonderful demonstration of the raw joy of fresh ingredients in the hands of a master chef.

Below, a breakdown of the food:

Hors d’oeuvres:

Asian crisp with creamy cheese and black truffles (swoon-worthy), baked cheese sticks with saffron, tuna tartare wrapped with avocado, shrimp with turnip puree

Dinner:

Heirloom cherry tomatoes with Tristar  Organic strawberries, Balinese pepper and hyssop : honestly, this dish was a little stupid; the emphasis was on the presentation more than anything else, and I would have loved more tomatoes

Butter sugar corn soup with with corn ravioli filled with Jasper Farm sheep, La Jeune Autize and Tomme de Fontenay cheese: velvety and the perfect dish to extract the essence of summer corn; a touch of chamomile added another level of flavor depth;  the dumplings were an ideal texture and the cheeses came together in a creamy, complex bite

Wild Salmon with mint pesto, shishito peppers, fava beans and Spigarello Kale purree: Every piece of salmon was cooked perfectly, with crispy skin; the mint pesto was a perfect flavor and visual complement, and all of the other green things were yummy

Long Island Duck roasted whole with French Regilsse, stone crushed polenta, organic cherries, kumquat and celery purree:  Simply done duck with the traditional cherry accompaniment to enhance flavors; polenta was smooth and creamy

Wild berry and bulgar wheat soup: I was more into the bulgar wheat soup than I anticipated; the texture added some heft to the wild berry sorbet

Valhrona Chocolate dome on a cloud of black mission figs: Um just read the first part of this dish and you will know how amazing it was…

It should be noted that we came away with a bag of heirloom tomatoes from Bradley Farm that were superb, as were the hot dogs and sausages that we purchased. A special shout out to Iris, who deflected the anxiety building regarding the late chef with genuine charm, wit and gratitude.  I would love to see her and Zraly take their act on the road…