#danbarber

What makes vegetables tasty? Why are some tomatoes completely tasteless, and others succulent and sweet?

Turns out insecticides and fungicides usurp plant’s natural defences, which means the plant then produces less phytonutrients—amino acids, esters, and flavinoids. Phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals, and sucrose give vegetables their particular flavour.

Phytonutrients are chemicals produced by plants to stay healthy, eg. protect plants from insect attacks, or radiation from UV rays.

In Dan Barber’s book “The Third Plate” the michelin star chef is searching for the perfect prdouce. He uses a brix refractometer to measure the amount of sucrose in his carrots. The refractometer reads a 16.9 Brix, he explains that this “means that the carrots were 16.9 % sucrose and bursting with minerals”.

Meanwhile, landmark studies in both the UK and the USA have shown that soil degradation due to industrial farming has been depleting our once nutrient-rich soil of minerals and vitamins. Apparently, to gain the same amount of vitamin A from an orange as our grandparents would have, you would need to eat eight oranges today.

So what is a brix refractometer?

A brix refractometer measures the sucrose, vitamin, amino acids, and mineral percentage of the crop or food.

How does it work?

Everyone knows Dan Barber surprises you in the kitchen, but who knew he was just as eloquent on paper?

An inquisitive and humble page-turner ‘The Third Plate’ takes the reader though Barber’s investigative journey on real food—envisioning a future plate for coming generations.

As he visits farms, asks questions, applies techniques to Blue Hill, he is simultaneously learning and teaching. Always eager to explore he forges relationships with farm pioneers—characters who give us hope for a greener future. As he analyses the evolution of American food from the ‘first plate’—industrially produced, meat heavy dishes, to the ‘second-plate’ of grass-fed meat and organic greens to a ‘third plate’ of seasonal produce, wild and whole grains, natural rhythms and small portions of protein—a balancing act of what nature can truly provide.

Meet the chef that totally turned the restaurant industry on its head; Dan Barber has redefined what cooking consists of and how we should be nourishing our bodies. Check out his documentary in the series Chef’s Table on netflix (Season 1 Episode 1) to learn more about his journey and what farm to table cooking really looks like for the food and our bodies. 

Good meals come from good ingredients. Farm to table cooking is now a buzzword in the restaurant industry because of him, and it is better for it! Knowing where your food comes from and who grew it allows people to reconnect with how we nourish our bodies and sustain our lives. We are what we eat, but we are what we eat eats too! 

Wine Director Blue Hill at Stone Barns Pocantico Hills, New York bluehillfarm.com

Photos courtesy of Blue Hill at Stone Barns

SPECIAL GUEST SERIES

William Carroll serves as wine director at Blue Hill at Stone Barns located within Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, New York, just 30 miles north of New York City. In 2015, the restaurant was featured in an episode of the Emmy-nominated Netflix docuseries Chef’s Table, showcasing chef, restaurateur, and food writer Dan Barber. In this role, William oversees the entirety of beverage services for Blue Hill at Stone Barns, along with an extensive wine cellar that spans 2,000 references of wine, beer, and spirits. His first big break came at the age of 19 when he took a job as a back waiter at Daniel in New York City where he discovered a newfound fascination with fine dining and wine. Months later, William headed to Paris where he went on to graduate from Le Cordon Bleu Wine & Management Programme at the ripe age of 21. During this time, he also worked under renowned sommelier Antoine Petrus of restaurant Lasserre. William resides in nearby Tarrytown, New York, a great match for him given its abundance of coffee shops and close proximity to the running trails at Rockefeller State Park Preserves.  

FAVORITES

Book: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Destination: Park City, Utah

Motto: Caffeine and dreams

Sanctuary: The Candlelight Inn, Scarsdale, New York

THE QUERY

Where were you born?

St. Louis, Missouri

What were some of the passions and pastimes of your earlier years?

I was really into lacrosse growing up. With the exception of a brief stint in standup comedy, I’ve been obsessed with food for as long as I can remember.

How did you begin to realize your intrigue with the science and study of wine and winemaking?

It all started at my first restaurant job bussing tables at Fairview Country Club in Greenwich, Connecticut. One evening, a private collector was generous enough to send a glass of “something French from the 70s” to the kitchen, and the chef was kind enough to let me taste. That sip was the most complex, delicious thing I’d ever had, which isn’t saying much for a palate of Hot Pockets and Bud Light that sustained me. Seven years later, I ran into that chef and discovered that the wine I tasted was Château Climens, Sauternes 1971.

What remains most memorable about your training at Le Cordon Bleu Wine & Management Programme?

It was the two weeks I spent working the harvest in Chinon. I was out of my element - nobody at the winery spoke English and I subsisted on nothing other than Nutella, pâté, and red wine (sounds like a good time, but not for a fortnight). Despite the culture shock, I gained an appreciation for wine that I couldn’t have otherwise. It’s shocking how much hard work it takes to produce a great bottle.          

When and how did you make your entry into the world of wine as a sommelier?

I didn’t even know what a sommelier was until I worked at Daniel. It was there that Raj Vaidya and the rest of the wine team were willing to share their knowledge and enthusiasm with me. More importantly was the service experience I gained with bussing tables. I was horrible when I started and not great when I left, but it was that strong Michelin 3-star foundation that opened the door at Restaurant Lasserre, and eventually at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. It would never have mattered how much I knew about Burgundy if I couldn’t carry a tray or flip a tablecloth.  

What led to your coming on board with Blue Hill at Stone Barns in 2015?

I was on my way into the city one morning heading to work at Murray’s Cheese during my brief stint as a cheesemonger. I’ve always made a habit of monitoring industry job sites to see what’s out there from time to time, and happened to see an opening for a sommelier position at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. It seemed, and turned out to be, the opportunity of a lifetime. I sent my CV in right away and interviewed the following week.  

How do typically approach the selection of wine pairings at Blue Hill at Stone Barns?

This question calls for a tricky and (sorry!) wordy answer because our pairing approach has evolved so much during my two years with the restaurant team. At first, we were rigidly focused on finding the perfect pairing with every single bite, which, with practice, isn’t the hardest thing to do. For me, it’s always been a matter of treating your wine cellar like a spice rack - taste the dish, then arrange the flavors with different wine memories, season the food one way or another based on structure (acid, body, sweetness, tannin, alcohol), and then aroma.

After awhile the wine team decided to loosen our pursuit of these perfect pairings because it started to feel more imaginative than truly creative. On top of that, we finally accepted that most guests aren’t obsessively analyzing the interplay between the food and wine the way we do. And, even if they did, it probably wouldn’t make for the best overall dining experience. A few months back we ditched the whole formula and now follow the kitchen’s lead in curating a unique experience for each table. Even, if for some reason, a guest had the same menu as another table, they wouldn’t have the same progression of wine, beer, and cocktails.  

What have you enjoyed most about working with Dan Barber?

I probably get the most fulfillment out of the daily challenge of trying to keep up with Dan and the restaurant at large. There’s a constant change of ingredients, no menu structure, a creative and energetic chef de cuisine, and a service style built on storytelling. Trying to get a wine program to fit that mold is tough, but thankfully, I’ve been given the freedom and cellar space to make it a lot of fun.

Why is the guiding philosophy of Blue Hill at Stone Barns a good fit for you?

Working in wine can feel pretty self-serving at times. At the end of the day, I make a living out of sounding smarter than I actually am, and having a hedonistic devotion to all things alcohol-related. As cheesy as it may sound, working here fills a need to be part of something bigger than that.

Is there a period/project along the way that has presented an important learning curve?

My entire time at Blue Hill at Stone Barns has been one big learning curve, with no end in sight. From the beginning, the Barbers and Charles Puglia (the former wine director at Blue Hill at Stone Barns), allowed me to take charge of more and more elements of the wine program, despite the risk of me absolutely botching it.

In all your travels, where have you tasted the best wine?

I’m not sure about a specific travel destination, but the best wine of my life was Sine Qua Non Syrah, 2008. I enjoyed it with the Lasserre wine team in Paris at three in the morning, post service - with a massive cheeseburger. I generally don’t gravitate toward that style of wine, but no bottle has ever fit so perfectly into a particular setting.

Do you have a favorite wine resource that you turn to?

Guildsomm.com is definitely my favorite resource, but I probably obsess over the book, Grand Cru: The Great Wines of Burgundy Through the Perspective of its Finest Vineyards, by Remmington Norman more than any other.

What three tools of the trade can’t you live without?

Crocs, scotch tape (it keeps the neck tie in place; I’ve never been big on tie clips), and almonds. Almonds are definitely the best cellar snack, as they hold a crunch in the humid wine cellar.  

From where do you draw inspiration?

The kitchen team at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. It’s really hard to whine or find excuses when you see how hard they work.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Put the potato chips on the sandwich.

Is there a book or film that has changed you? 

A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber. It paints a pretty beautiful map of the world.

What drives you these days?