While I was at the World Fantasy Convention in Saratoga Springs, I was asked by dozens of my friends what awesome dining plans I had that weekend, for they know I always do make such plans, taking great care not to waste a meal when traveling. What I told them is what I already told you here —that the peak culinary experience of my trip wouldn’t be at the con, but after, at the eponymous Damon Baehrel.

What makes Damon Baehrel so special is not just its amazing food, but also its close relationship with a specific plot of land, a relationship which I don’t believe is replicated anywhere else in the world, as these words taken from the restaurant’s site prove.

In addition to the cultivated and native ingredients from our Sagecrest Native and Organic Gardens and property, all of the cheeses, cured meats, flours, vinegars, pressed oils, breads and butters (including cow, goat and sheep varieties) are hand prepared by Damon. Chef/Grower Damon partnered with a nearby organic farm long ago to raise these and other livestock, and whole animals have been utilized for the charcuterie and meat courses since day one. East coast seafood is personally selected by Damon for the popular seafood and vegetable courses. Damon also make all of the so-called “pantry” ingredients…including Fresh pressed Grapeseed oil, Sunflower oil, Nut oils. Flours: including Cranberry Bean Flour, Fava Bean Flour, Acorn & Hickory Nut Flour, Spruce & Pine Flour. (just to name a few) as well as over 60 Homemade Vinegars. Hundreds of powders & flours he creates to highlight his original Cuisine, Partridge Berry, Wild Fiddlehead Ostrich Fern, Smoked Cedar Berry, Wild Sorrel, Gem Studded Puffball Mushroom, Dandelion Root, Hickory Bark, etc. are just a few of the many ever changing tastes you will get to experience.

Now that I’ve experienced what turned out to be a seven-hour meal there, I’m being asked, “Well … ?”

And words fail me. Because in trying to explain what it’s like to have the privilege (and yes, that’s what it felt like, a privilege) of eating what Baehrel has dubbed “Native Harvest” cuisine, I feel as if I’m being tasked to describe the indescribable. I’ve been tossing out adjectives, which really explain nothing, and have been tempted to resort to one of the worst cliches of all—”You had to be there.” Which, while for the most part true, is tremendously unsatisfying for both of us.

So let me try to avoid that “You had to be there” cop-out and take you along on my journey as best I can.

It all began on January 7, 2014, when I was reminded by this Eater post that Damon Baehrel, located in Earlton, New York, was within striking distance of the World Fantasy Convention to be held the following year in Saratoga Springs. So on January 17, I shot off an email and hoped for a miracle.

Why would it be considered a miracle to get a reservation at a restaurant more than 22 months before the desired date? Because at the time I began my quest, there was a five-year backlog in place, and on April 1 of that year, just a few months later, Damon Baehrel stopped taking any new requests entirely, as there were already 100,000 reservation requests from 67 countries. Keep in mind that’s table requests, not just the number of diners, and that’s for a restaurant which only handles approximately 12-14 guests per seating, five days each week.

By May of 2015, I was informed that number had increased to 200,000 table requests from more than 80 countries, and with that increase, my hopes diminished. But (to make a long story short) eventually, miraculously, Chef Baehrel was willing to rearrange his schedule and open his restaurant for us the Monday after World Fantasy, on a day when he would normally be closed, a fact which I learned just two weeks prior to our meal.

And so, at around 3:40 p.m. on November 9, I pulled up to the locked gate at the mouth of the drive, filled with anticipation. And some justifiable fear as well. For how could anything possibly live up to that kind of hype?

(Spoiler alert: This anything did.) (more…)

I’ve been teasing you for months about my seemingly impossible quest to dine during this year’s World Fantasy Convention at a particular restaurant, one which I’ve avoided mentioning by name so as not to jinx my efforts. I first reached out to the restaurant on January 17, 2014—yes, 21 months ago, and even then I worried that wasn’t enough lead time—as soon as I realized Earlton, New York was only an hour away from Saratoga Springs.

What’s in Earlton? I received word a few hours ago from an extremely helpful and patient reservations manager that I was able to get a table for six the day after the con ends, so now it can be told—next month I’ll have the privilege of paying a visit to a place Eater called “what might possibly be one of the toughest reservations to get in the world”—Damon Baehrel. Some have waited as long as five years for a table, and as the restaurant site reveals, they’re so backlogged they’ve decided to no longer accept new reservation requests.

Since April 1, 2014 Damon has given me the OK to take a break from accepting NEW reservation requests for an extended period in order to process/organize the huge influx that came in by that date. Recent National/International media coverage has resulted in us being completely inundated and overwhelmed with requests from around the world. As we will not be processing any new requests for the time being, we will not be keeping your contact info/reservation request details on file if you do send one. Please check back here every few months as we will post here when we will begin accepting new requests again.

That day has not yet come. (more…)