Glorious farm to table

I’ve been away from blogging for a bit, but not away from some really fine eating. In Missouri, I ate at Justus Drugstore, an amazing little place in nowhere (if you’re not from the Midwest, you have no idea what that means). Here, in what was his parents’ drugstore, Jonathan Justus is creating some really fantastic  food using local ingredients. (Again, if you’re not from the middle of the country, you might not know how revolutionary this is). Freshwater striper bass. Berkshire pork from a farm just miles from the restaurant in Smithville, Mo., chestnut risotto with local chestnuts, ceviche made from freshwater bass, crawdad cakes. And, of course, a local Hereford beef prime loin steak for $29. I strongly recommend you book a flight into KC and take the drive up to Smithville.

Even more transcendent was a visit to Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Westchester Country,New York. Think Dan Barber’s face bacon. Baby lamb and celtuse (a cross between celery and romaine). Raw vegetables on the fence. Wafers of chicken liver mousse covered with bitter chocolate. And then a very thorough and thoroughly fascinating tour of the farm. Sows and piglets in pens in the woods. Chickens in pens on wheels. Greenhouses built over fields. Hops and flint corn and geese being raised for non-forced foie gras (still in experimental stage.)

Sometimes the foodie hoopla gets overwhelming, but this pilgrimage was well worth it. As well as glorious food, the visit provided much food for thought. Corn, how to raise pigs, the future of foie gras, and what can be done with money (Blue Hill at Stone Barn is a Rockefeller family estate).