Photography, cheesemaking, bourbon production, meat smoking, cooking. All are points on the same line to me. We all make something driven by tremendous passion and the risk of failure and financial peril. We also see the drive in each other and pair up for the same reason. In 2006, I started a personal photo project of shooting food and other culinary producers in New York’s Hudson Valley. After a couple of shoots, I knew I was onto something. I wanted to make a book that people would use, so my writing partner, Kelly Kochendorfer, and I created Harvest to Heat (Taunton Press, 2010), a 100-recipe cookbook that also served as a great read and coffee-table tour of farms around the country. The idea wa —pardon the pun—organic. We’d ask the best chefs in the country which farmer or artisan they would like to cook with, and have them contribute two recipes featuring that person’s product. Simple, right? Luckily, we hit the zeitgeist of the food movement and the book took off; these are some of the (previously unpublished) extra shots. One of the comments I have heard over and over again is, “These people look like they really love each other.” In fact they do; each team represents a perfect pairing.
Derek Wagner (Nicks on Broadway, Providence, R.I.) + Paul Baffoni (Baffoni’s Poultry Farm, Johnston, R.I.)
Judy Schad (Capriole Farmstead Goat Cheese, Greenville, Ind.) + Gale Gand (Tru, Chicago, Ill.)
Eric Warnstedt (Hen of the Wood, Waterbury, Vt.) + Andy Kehler (Jasper Hill Farm, Greensboro, Vt.)
Matthew Gennuso (Chez Pascal, Providence, R.I.) + Karl Santos (Shy Brothers Farm, Westport, Mass.)
Tim Stark (Eckerton Hill Farm, Fleetwood, Pa.) + Daniel Boulud (Daniel, New York, N.Y.)
Paul Virant (Vie, Western Springs, Ill.) + Will Allen (Growing Power, Milwaukee, Wis.)
Featured image at top: April Bloomfield (The Spotted Pig, New York, N.Y.) + Rob Thompson (Thanksgiving Farm, Harris, N.Y.)
