Food as a Conversation
Our friend and food writer Megan DeMatteo came to The Chef’s Counter early on, before most people had experienced what Chef Tae Strain and our culinary team were creating here.
This week, she shared that experience with Yahoo! in a beautiful story about Burnt Hill being named by Wine Enthusiast as one of the Best Winery Restaurants in the World, one of just 57 globally and 13 in the United States.
The recognition still feels surreal. But what I loved most about Megan’s story was the way she understood why this experience is so meaningful to us.
She writes that with Tae’s cooking, “there’s a quest for understanding, food as a conversation starter and meaning-maker.”
Tae’s food is personal. As a Korean American adoptee who grew up in Maryland, his cooking brings his own story into conversation with the ingredients, traditions and the Chesapeake.
Megan captures that beautifully through dishes like Chesapeake rockfish paired with shellfish miso, or Tae’s interpretation of a Maryland snowball through the lens of Filipino halo-halo. Familiar ideas, seen through a new perspective.
At Burnt Hill, we want the vineyard, cellar, farm, kitchen, people, and stories we each bring with us to speak to one another. The Chef’s Counter may be the clearest expression of that idea. Twelve guests sit inside the working kitchen while Tae and our culinary team tell a story through a nine course tasting menu shaped by the season, this farm, and the Chesapeake.
When someone experiences that and sees not only what we are making, but what we are trying to say, it means a lot. Megan has been a friend of Burnt Hill since our earliest days of welcoming guests, and we’re incredibly grateful for the thoughtfulness she brought to telling this story.
We’re also immensely proud of Tae and the entire team bringing it to life night after night.
Thank you, Megan.
Read Megan DeMatteo’s full story on Yahoo!
-Drew Baker, farmer and founding partner
Chef Tae Strain's ggoma snowball, a shaved-ice dessert topped with marshmallow, dusted fig and fresh strawberries, is served at the Chef's Counter at Burnt Hill Farm.