Many years ago, Steve Tucker was approached by Kevin McCarthy, CEC, CCE, then Executive Chef at The Point, an exclusive resort on Upper Saranac Lake, to grow gourmet-quality specialty produce--just for him and the guests at The Point. This arrangement proved successful, and for many years, Tucker Farms grew hand-picked vegetables not only for Kevin, but also for executive chefs at other resorts and restaurants in the Tri-Lakes area.  At the time, Chef McCarthy liked to brag that during summer growing season, he was providing scrumptious meals using local products obtained less than 50 miles from The Point.  While other executive chefs did not set such a high standard, they were certainly taking advantage of freshly-picked vegetables from Tucker Farms to fill their menu offerings.  This was before 'farm-to-table' menus became a thing to do. Since then, Chef McCarthy has moved to the culinary department at nearby Paul Smith's College where he teaches commercial cooking, catering, kitchen management and nutrition food science.  Several times during the growing season, he would bring his students to Tucker Farms to meet with Steve to learn first-hand where the vegetables they were working with came from. At the end of the 2023 growing season, Steve stopped growing vegetables in order to devote more time on potatoes and grains, yet Kevin still brings his students to the farm to familiarize them with where potatoes come from as part of the 'farm to table' concept. Most recently, in early October 2025, his best culinary students prepared and served four different gourmet potato dishes at our inaugural Spud Fest at the farm. Perhaps it is needless to say, but there were no left-overs.