In turns out our hosts, Chefs Jean-Francois Bruel and Daniel Boulud both grew up on farms, a not-so-coincidental fact that was brought home many a times throughout the feast. Host and farmer Eberhard Muller was once a Chef here in New York. This shared respect for fresh and spirited cuisine was plainly evident in each of the 5 courses. As Bruel puts it: “Both chefs and farmers have to work very hard in season, have a immense respect for ingredients and always love to play with “new toys”. I have to chase away the momentary image of his gleeful face aboard some scary-looking farming vehicle and focus on the food. To each season, its new set of fresh goodies to play with. And don’t we feast on their passion.
Some of the meal’s many stars were the collaborations: Tim Stark of Eckerton Hill Farm contributed sweet tomatoes for a chilled soup marvelously complimented by Rod Browne’s of Browne Trading Company sublime peekytoe crab. Satur Farm’s succulent packages of squash blossoms and baby eggplant were divine.The Milk Fed Cornish Hen from Four Story Hill farm was only a month young and both succulent in taste and tender in delivery. The cheese selection from fine-artist-turned-cheese-monger Anne Saxelby was met with glorious reviews, as was Pastry Chef’s Dominique Ansel dessert of Berried Treasure strawberries in a citrus mascarpone cream – an almond sponge cake and limoncello sorbet to boot. Sweet and dreamy.
