Sitting on 7.5 acres of farmland, 23 acres of pasture, and 40 acres of woodlands in Pocantico Hills, New York, the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture is a living laboratory.

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Source: Stone Barns

Maggie Nolin, the philanthropy operations manager, who led the tour of the grounds the day we visited, said Blue Hill didn't have the neat rows of a conventional farm. "That's the whole point," she said. "We're farming in harmony with nature here."

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They practice the "three C's" — crop rotation, cover crops, and compost — to keep the soil as healthy as possible. The roughly 20 people who regularly work the land here grow more than 500 varieties of fruits and vegetables, everything from apples to zucchini.

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This wildflower patch feeds the bees, whose hives you can see in the colored boxes in the back left. The bees, in turn, pollinate the plants. Everything is about symbiosis here.

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The farm raises chickens, sheep, pigs, and turkeys. The chickens' "egg-mobiles," an open-source design Stone Barns invented, can be moved daily by one person.

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Source: Stone Barns

When asked about the expense of growing food with this much management and rigor, Nolin said the philosophy wasn't to replicate the approach in other climates, but to take the heart of the idea and apply it locally elsewhere. "Cheap food is very expensive," she said. "We're just not seeing the cost."

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Time to eat! We started with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres on the patio. We were there for a private event, so every meal might not come with a cocktail hour beforehand. I chose a blueberry daiquiri (bottom right) made with fresh mint and both light and dark rums.

The potato bites were my favorite thing I ate the whole day. No shame — I know what I like.Rebecca Harrington/Business Insider

It brightened up the small bites: sesame crackers with zucchini marmalade and tomatoes (bottom left), and deep-fried potato balls with lemon and mushroom sauces (top).

Servers just kept coming around with more tapas — zucchini with pancetta and sesame seeds (top right), polenta topped with ragu (top left), and caviar tarts (bottom). I learned I don't like caviar.

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The staff is very attentive to food allergies and dietary needs. One diner was vegan, so they brought him a special plate of hors d'oeuvres.

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Inside we go for the main event. The bright dining room was filled with flowers, metal beams, and white tablecloths. When the building was used for the farm, this space was the milking barn.

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Here was the tasting menu for the day. A meal is $258 per person for just the food, or $426 each if you add the wine pairing. A 20% tip is also added to your bill, bringing the total up to a whopping $511 per person for food and drinks.

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The number of courses served varies from day to day, though it can reach as many as 40 rounds of just a few small bites.

Source: Blue Hill

We started with tomatoes, cucumbers, and watermelon radishes simply dressed with olive oil and salt and pepper skewered on these boards. Tiny mushroom burgers offered a sweet bite, and the quail egg — with more caviar atop a filo nest — had a pleasant crunch followed by a burst of pure egg flavor.

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The second course entailed tomatoes and fennel with a tomato foam and creamy goat cheese, paired extremely well with a crisp Corsican rosé. The dish was an ode to tomatoes — harvesting had just begun.

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The third course was Maine lobster with what they called corn and shellfish chowder. The lobster was meaty and perfectly cooked (as expected), but the soup was more like a creamy sauce with corn in it. It was served on more of a plate than a bowl, making it difficult to eat.

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One thing Blue Hill excels at is attention to detail. Hot dishes were served in heated stone bowls and plates to keep the food warm. The servers also made sure wine glasses were never even close to empty.

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The fourth course was a ricotta-filled gnocchi with mushrooms in a tomato sauce, topped with nutty Parmesan that balanced the dish. I asked if there were also roasted red peppers in the sauce, and the servers took the time to ask the chef and tell me it was simply tomatoes.

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Time for the meat: lamb belly and loin with an incredibly flavorful eggplant purée. The belly, reminiscent of the kind that's so popular these days, was satisfyingly chewy and crunchy, while the loin was a masterful medium-rare. The two played well off each other.

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For the sixth course, bursting blueberries topped corn that had been turned into a kind of pudding. I liked how this was a transition between dinner and dessert — not too sweet, but using the natural sweetness in the produce to carry the flavors. This glass of eiswein from Austria was honey, syrupy goodness. I had two glasses.

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Even the coffee at the end of the meal had a Blue Hill touch. The milk came in an old-fashioned milk jug, and the sugar was in misshapen cubes. At this point, I was very, very full.

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But more food is coming! The seventh course was milk crepes with macerated strawberries, plums, and tangerines. They made the crepes by frying reduced milk in a pan, and it somehow turned into a thin pancake. (I suspect magic.)

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I thought we were done, but, finally, there were cherries, sugared peach gummies, and the creamiest honey chocolate truffles I've ever eaten. Four hours of eating, complete.

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I understand why people rave about Blue Hill at Stone Barns. It's as hyped as it should be. Not only did I enjoy a magnificent meal, I learned a lot about the food I was eating and the people who grew and prepared it.

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DON'T MISS: More photos from another meal at Blue Hill at Stone Barns