Windy Brown Farms offers a delightful setting for outdoor dining

Many of us can trace our Jersey ancestry back to our parents or grandparents. But not the Hunter family, who settled in what is now the town of Fredon in Sussex as early as the 1680s. They established a dairy farm and orchards, growing apples, peaches, plums, cherries, peppers, tomatoes and more.

The Hunts still grow some of the region’s most delicious produce at their 135-acre Windy Brow Farms, which gets its name from its breezy hilltop location. Pick your own apples and pumpkins here in the fall, or shop at the farm store year-round. The farm’s wide array of offerings includes a coffee bar and a bakery that makes delicious breads and pastries. (The bruschetta, croissants, brownies, and pecan pie here are some of the best ever.)

Windy Brow’s produce and bakery are foodie destinations in their own right, but there’s so much more to come. The latest generation of Hunt farmers, 34-year-old Jake, is a breath of fresh air at Windy Brow. Soon after he teamed up with his father Jim and mother Linda in 2013, he began a dramatic new endeavor, curating a creamy, mouth-watering ice cream sideline.

Jake Hunt, chef and host of Windy Brow Farms. Photo: KT Harrison

Jack earned his ice cream-making credentials while attending the University of Delaware. As a double major in agriculture and animal science, he built and managed the campus ice cream factory, showcasing milk from the school’s cows. Then, in 2018, social media broke with Jack’s inspired Windy Brow creation: Taylor Ham and French Toast Ice Cream.

The ice cream “flights” offer six flavors to choose from. Photo: KT Harrison

Today, ice cream lovers from far and wide wait patiently at Windy Brow’s creamery window, which is open Wednesday through Sunday. In addition to Jake’s famous flavors, there are other original flavors, many of which are harvest-based, such as fig honey walnut ricotta, black raspberry truffle and burnt honey pistachio. For the inevitable indecisive customer, the ice cream “meal” comes with six oversized scoops of ice cream.

Enjoy ice cream for dessert after dinner at Windy Brow every Thursday and Saturday through mid-October. The restaurant’s outdoor dining pavilion opened in 2019 and offers 45 seats and plenty of picnic tables. The pavilion offers stunning views of rolling pastures, picturesque old barns and an open cooking station topped by a domed pizza oven made from the farm’s oak and ash logs.

The farm’s open cooking station is topped by a domed pizza oven. Photo: Courtesy of Windy Brow Farms

The menu is concise but varied, Italian-inspired, fresh-from-the-oven, fine-restaurant quality. Jack is the chef. “I learned about food through endless observation and tasting,” he says. “Even as a kid, I knew what was right and wrong about a dish. I learned that cooking is both an art and a science.” Jack is also deeply involved in breadmaking at Windy Brow, where he “learned about dough,” he explains. “The transition from bread to pizza was natural, and it depended on a good crust and an excellent tomato sauce.” (The sauce here is based on the farm’s vine tomatoes.) Jack brainstorms with his kitchen and service teams to come up with “creative and compatible toppings.”

The mushroom pizza, featuring button mushrooms, arugula and peaches, is served with a smile. Photo: KT Harrison

The Windy Brow pizza line currently has seven varieties, including classic tomato mozzarella basil pies, bold cross-cultural creations, and vegetarian savory options, all covered in farm-made mozzarella. I was smitten with the spicy kimchi four-cheese pizza and the zesty Tōgarashi pie, which is topped with homemade sausage and Japanese peppers. The pizzas feed one person, and two if you order the other sides, which most diners do.

Delicate meatballs with farm-fresh sauce and ricotta. Photo: KT Harrison

Five non-pizza menus are available, ranging from tapas (grilled olives with bruschetta and whipped ricotta) to light (charred fresh lettuce with Tellerham jam and homemade gorgonzola) to extravagant (the Uncle Motti, a giant pizza crust sandwich stuffed with salami, pistachio pesto and the farm’s own burrata). Most traditional is the hearty meatball dish, a mix of southern Italian beef, pork and veal topped with the farm’s own ricotta.

Windy Brow is a relaxing place to dine. Photo: KT Harrison

Diners at Windy Brow, whether they are neighborhood families or dates, are a remarkably relaxed bunch. Their body language conveys their enjoyment of the food, BYOB policy, atmosphere, views and local bands.

“The Hunt family has long poured our love, passion and support into our community,” Jack said. “We are very proud that the Wendy Burrow community has expanded through the food we now cook.”

Wendy Blau Farm, 359 Ridge Road, Fredon Township; 973-579-9657.continue Facebook or Instagram.

The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

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