Why should birthday celebrations be limited to just one day, when you can celebrate multiples times with family and friends? Our birthday festivities began with an intimate family style dinner with 20 of our closest friends at Black Barn. We selected this restaurant because of its remarkable farm to table dining experience. The rustic barn-centric interior also tied in nicely with our Country Hoedown celebration last weekend. We are excited to share our fabulous birthday dinner with you.
Black Barn, located next to Madison Square Park, was modeled after a country farmhouse. There are two full dining rooms, several private rooms and a wine cellar with over 1,000 bottles. The menu features modern, seasonal American dishes, with many ingredients sourced from local farmers, ranchers and fishermen.
Executive Chef and Owner, John Doherty, opened Black Barn in 2015. Doherty was the former long-time Executive Chef of the Waldorf Astoria. Our first time dining at Black Barn was a New Year’s Day Brunch earlier this year.
Black Barn has a variety of spaces to host brunch, lunch and dinner events of varying party sizes. Our dinner was originally scheduled to take place in The Shed. But our party grew in size at the last minute. John, Lida and Jamie kindly allowed us to move our dinner into the private wine cellar. The Cellar is a beautiful space and accommodates one large table for up to 24 guests or round tables for up to 34 guests.
We planned a delicious multi-course family style dinner.
The appetizers were phenomenal! The black mission fig pizza was drizzled with the perfect amount of truffle oil, and the kale and roasted corn salad was seasoned with a jalapeño buttermilk dressing. Hands down, our favorite was the butternut squash ravioli. The ravioli simply melted in your mouth, and we just wanted to keep eating more.
The entrees were almost too beautiful to eat. The cavatelli and the seared branzino were good, but the lamb chops were to die for! The lamb was perfectly cooked and paired with a delicious assortment of veggies.
We concluded our meal with three decadent desserts: apple cider donuts, chocolate coconut cake and bread pudding. Our favorite was the bread pudding!
Black Barn then brought us another special dessert, while our friends sang Happy Birthday.
Special thank you to Black Barn for making our 36th birthday extra special. The food, ambiance and company were more than we could ask for. Our friend Eric, the Founder of Hellisøy, left some vodka as gifts to the staff of Black Barn. We hope you enjoyed them.
Black Barn also has several other rooms for private dining. We had originally booked The Shed, until we outgrew the maximum capacity. The Shed can seat up to 20 guests at two farm tables of 10 each, or a group of 12 at one larger square table.
The largest private room is the Loft which is located on the mezzanine level of the restaurant and can accommodate a seated dinner for up to 100 or a cocktail reception for up to 120.
For those interesting in tasting menus, we recommend the Chef’s Table. Groups up to 20 can dine on a six course tasting menu, with wine pairings.
The Cabin is perfect for small groups up to 12.
Thanks again to Black Barn, Chef John Doherty, Lida and Jamie as well as all of our amazing friends. Cheers to helping us celebrate the big 36.
“A day at the Barn restores the soul.” –J Tucker.
I am into barn decor, this place looks absolutely beautiful.
Seems like a really nice birthday! How about that!
Happy birthday!!! The restaurant is so awesome, i love how rustic it is, amazing….
Wow, that’s a great menu. Im so in the mood for some butternut squash pasta. It’s been a minute.
Wow, what a wonderful and festive menu! I love everything about those courses. And it looks you and your friends had loads of fun!
Happy Birthday. I love the pictures. The menu is amazing.
What a wonderful birthday celebration! It’s so amazing to be able to go and do this.
Wow! This is an awesome birthday party. Happy birthday!
Happy birthday! Looks like a fun party.