Tart for Breakfast? Why Not

All the telltale signs of spring - apple blossoms, pea shoots, wooly lambs, piglets - can be found in the coming weeks at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, where sustainable farming underwritten by Rockefeller wealth has produced some of the most photogenic acres in the region. In addition to calves and tractors, there is wonderful food-to-go at the tiny Blue Hill Café, like a high-gloss chocolate tart, which on a recent March morning Philippe Gouze, the cafe manager, confessed to having had for breakfast.

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The cafe is part and parcel of the philosophy that drives the show that is Blue Hill at Stone Barns: "Know thy farmer." The folks at Blue Hill are not purists, but the pork, tender greens and fresh eggs are all homegrown. Takeout trays and plates are made from recycled pressed paper; spoons and forks are derived from corn, sugar cane and potatoes. Visitors can eat at outdoor tables or duck inside the hay barn in inclement weather.

For early risers and hikers, breakfast items include granola, oatmeal and sugar-dusted scones. For lunch - which came first, the chicken salad or the egg salad? Both are fine interpretations of the classics.

Other notable offerings from a changing roster: panini of rich Pennsylvania Noble cheddar and arugula pesto, or of roast pork, golden raisin chutney and pickled fennel; celery root salad dappled with mustard seed; homey white-bean soup; fat latkes with parsleyed applesauce; apple crumble; plum custard; and big, golden oatmeal cookies. Excellent cappuccinos, lattes and hot chocolate are made to order by the friendly staff; yogurt drinks from Ronnybrook Farm Dairy and natural sodas are also available.

Sandwiches are .50; salads, .25 per pound; soup, .85; pastries, .15; and cookies, 80 cents.

Blue Hill Café, 630 Bedford Road, Pocantico Hills, (914) 366-9600, www.bluehillfarm.com. Open Wednesdays through Sundays, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ALICE GABRIEL