How to Experience Stone Barns, Without the Price Tag
A cobweb of wire-y tree branches shoot past my car window, protecting the now dusty, golden brown fields that surround the historic Farm at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Tarrytown, New York.
Although the dullness of the grounds during the winter is an unexpected sight to my untrained eye, I remember that this six-acre operation is open all four seasons, capitalizing on the rest before spring. I imagined what the fields would look like in just a few months, the hay-like grass overturned and green, new seeds cultivating strong roots in the soil. A new beginning for the farm; ushering in the vibrancy of spring. A plate however, from the reasonably priced cafe on Stone Barns called Grain Cafe, is anything but dull. Tucked away into an unassuming corner of the literal stonewalled architecture, the cafe is lined with the freshest take aways of the day. Although the offerings are always changing, the hardboiled eggs remain a constant, politely pre-cracked awaiting consumption.
On the far wall a few flakey croissants are surrounded by remnants of already taken pastry, generous blueberry oat muffin loafs, hearty buckwheat chocolate chip cookies, and even open faced sandwiches on thick slices of ciabatta, featuring the best baloney you’ve ever tasted in your life. While Stone Barns Center is also home to Chef Dan Barber’s prestigious Blue Hill, which capitalizes on resources from the farm, the Grain Cafe offers reasonably priced findings from the farm without the price tag. The casual seating area just outside the cafe is communal with ten or so long picnic tables and benches meant to share with friends and strangers alike.
Open 10am-5pm Wednesday through Sunday, locals gathering for lunch seem at ease in their surroundings, grateful to have a peaceful place to convene. On my way out, I notice a man sitting alone, with green and yellow tortoise shell glasses, matching his frames to a tiny bag of peppery take-away arugula and freshly baked cheddar-scallion scone, contented to have found a little piece of himself on the farm.