Photo by Susan Brinson
Butterfield at Hasbrouck House
Stone Ridge
Opened: September 2016
$30 to $36 entrées
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Chances are that when you’re dining at Butterfield, neighboring guests will not be locals. Visitors come from all over the world — but especially from New York City — to dine at this multi-room farm-friendly restaurant in an 18th-century Dutch Colonial stone mansion.
Meticulously restored and repainted in deep blue historic colors by owners/developers Akiva Reich and Eitan Baron, the restaurant and adjoining inn, known as Hasbrouck House, are set on a 40-acre estate. That means there’s a rather large buffer zone around the property, providing plenty of room for Executive Chef Aaron Abramson to experiment. On board since April 2017, when he arrived freshly from Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Westchester’s Pocantico Hills — after working in Europe and in the fish-focused kitchens of his native Washington state — Abramson has already revitalized the property’s smokehouse, so now crowd-pleasing trout croquettes and smoked salmon appear on the menu.
Hip and historic, this tranquil restaurant in an 18th-century setting has earned raves for its vegetable and smokehouse specialties. Photo by Emma Tuccillo.
​Abramson has also taken advantage of the environs to sprout a new vegetable garden with the goal of picking produce to order. “Spending time abroad, and working at restaurants that were so closely connected to farms, really opened my eyes in a different way than ever before,” he says. “The abundance of produce in the region has changed my style.” Upping his game with vegetables, Abramson offers dishes like sweet-and-sour cauliflower, ember-roasted beets with mustard greens and quinoa, rutabaga carbonara, and his signature vegetable mosaic medley. Even the bar menu celebrates veggies, with choices like squash rings with onion dip and pickled turnips and green beans. A vegetable tasting menu is in the works.
“There will still be plenty of meat and fish options,” says Abramson, who is also known for his delicious takes on lamb, venison, and short ribs. “But I think making vegetables taste great is one of the more exciting things that we can offer.”
