Chef’s Counter Review
Chef’s Counter: The Soul of Burnt Hill
When Alex Tsironis, who’s eaten everywhere from ambitious tasting menus to humble family-run spots around the world, says this might’ve been the best meal he’s ever had, and describes a night with no filler, no misses, and a sunset over the vineyard that almost didn’t feel real, it lands deeply.
I feel proud, and even more than that, grateful. Burnt Hill has asked a great deal of all of us. It’s required patience, conviction, taste, sacrifice, hard work, and a willingness to keep building long before the full picture was visible. What makes this moment meaningful is the feeling that the deeper intention of this place is beginning to come through. The way Alex described his experience wasn’t hype. It was precision, beauty, and that everything was completely dialed in.
Our chef-partner, Tae Strain, has risen to meet the opportunity of this place. He hasn’t imposed an idea onto the farm. He’s listened closely and translated what’s here. Through his deeply personal Asian American identity cooking, he’s found a way to express the beauty of this land, the seasonality of what we grow, and the emotional character of the farm itself. The menu Alex described, from shokupan with sesame honey to carrots and sambal, striped bass with kani miso, dry aged duck with mandarinquat, Mangalitsa pork ssam, and desserts like Tae’s famous Ggoma Snowball and Sweet Potato Toffee Cake, reflects that point of view clearly. It’s refined, but it’s also warm, personal, and alive. As Alex put it, “every single course hit. No filler, no misses.”
I feel grateful for what we’ve created together here. Grateful to every person who’s helped shape this magical hill into what it’s becoming. Alex’s reflection on stepping outside two thirds of the way through dinner to catch the sunset over the vineyard, and feeling like it almost wasn’t real, captures something essential. Burnt Hill is becoming the kind of place where farming, wine, hospitality, and food converge into something memorable and deeply felt. To see guests experience that so clearly is a reminder that all of it matters. That’s the part I’m most proud of.
-Drew Baker
A view into the kitchen from the Chef’s Counter, with the sun setting behind Sugarloaf Mountain on the horizon.