Chef Snaps

Slideshow: Acadia’s Ryan McCaskey’s Road Trip to The James Beard House

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Ryan McCaskey and crew at Beard House.

Turns out the glamorous life of a chef who’s been invited to cook at the James Beard House is a lot like going back to college your sophomore year. You pack the car as tight as you can, crank up the Grateful Dead, and drive. For Ryan McCaskey and his crew from Acadia, it meant hitting New York after a stop at a famous farm, enjoying a (very expensive but worth it) dinner the night before at a famous restaurant, and then cooking like mad the next day to deliver your vision of Maine-influenced food from Chicago. In the second edition of our series Chef Snaps, Ryan McCaskey passes along a bunch of his own snapshots from the trip to let Grub Street readers share in his excitement as he cooks for guests at JB’s house.

Previously: Dirk Flanigan’s Cellphone Pics: Go Inside The Life of The Gage/Henri’s Chef

Packed to the gills!!
Chef’s Garden [a sustainable culinary farm in Ohio] was amazing.
We’re in New York.
First stop.
Aaron Pench and I arrive at the [kitchen] space to map it out early.
In the kitchen at Per Se.
Per Se time.
Out of towners.
Yes, just imagine….
I touched it and it almost rolled off.
JB courtyard. A quick break and family meal before the madness!!
Our host.
Maine forest ready for service!
Pipettes of corn pudding ready to heat.
Ready to tweeze.
Almost done plating “Flavors of Maine”- pheasant presse, parsnip spruce puree, pickled blueberry gel, truffle, Maine “forest scents.”
The crew after a successful dinner!! 
Now a part of history… [note signature just above pocket at right]
Slideshow: Acadia’s Ryan McCaskey’s Road Trip to The James Beard House