Late Arrivals, Scuba Certification & 6 Course Meals

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• Chefs Jennifer Carroll of 10 Arts, Michael Schwartz of Michael's Genuine Food & Drink, Soa Davies of Le Bernardin, and Eric Gestel.
• Cleaning 150 times six glasses.
• Michael's Genuine Food & Drink chef de cuisine Thomas Tennant flips braised pheasant leg roulade.
• Le Bernardin chef Soa Davis tastes stock for seasoning.
• Michael's Genuine Chef de Cuisine Thomas Tennant.
• Michael's Genuine Food & Drink's Executive Pastry Chef Hedy Goldsmith and Chef Michael Schwartz.
• Eric Ripert briefs his Le Bernardin team on his dish.
• Team Think Food Group prep in the Blue by Eric Ripert kitchen.
• Team Think Food Group prep in the Blue by Eric Ripert kitchen.
• Ritz-Carlton executive chef Frederic Morineau and 10 Arts and top chef Jennifer Carroll.
• Michael's Genuine Food & Drink chef de cuisine Thomas Tennant turns pheasant.
• Michael's Genuine Food & Drink chef de cuisine Thomas Tennant turns pheasant.
• Chef Ripert leads pre-service with front of the house staff at Blue in preparation for gala dinner.
• Chef Eric Ripert leads gala dinner pre-service.
• Chef Eric Ripert leads gala dinner pre-service.
• Gala dinner pre-service, led by Eric Ripert.
• Pre-service with chefs Ripert and Schwartz.
• Chef Charlie Trotter's Spiny Lobster & Pulled Pork Ravioli, Curried Chicken Liver Puree.
• Gala dinner chefs gather for a group photo.
• Chef Charlie Trotter finally made it to the group photo, chatting here with Jose Andres' interviewer, reporter Sara Rose, but where's Suser Lee?
• Dining room TV.
• Front and back of the house plan a smooth service.
• Chef Schwartz's Local calabaza puree.
• Chef Michael Schwartz snaps an iPhone photo of chefs Ripert and Andres.
• Chef Michael Schwartz snaps an iPhone photo of chefs Ripert and Andres.
• Chefs Ripert, Schwartz, and Andres.
• Michael's Genuine Food & Drink's Executive Pastry Chef Hedy Goldsmith and Chef Michael Schwartz.
• Left to right: Michael's Genuine Food & Drink's chef de cuisine Thomas Tennant, Executive Pastry Chef Hedy Goldsmith, and Chef Michael Schwartz.
• Michael's Genuine Food & Drink Executive Pastry Chef Hedy Goldsmith and Chef de Cuisine Thomas Tennant.
• Chef Jose Andres puts in-kitchen camera to good use.
• Chef Luis Lujan's Local Conch Ravioli, Crab, Grapefruit Jelly, Grated Iberico Ham.
• Think Food Group chef Robyn Stern works on the components of Jose Andres' plate.
• Le Bernardin chef Soa Davies plates Jose Andres' dish.
• Chef Andres confirms final plating details with Think Food Group chef Robyn Stern.
• Plating Jose Andres' dish.
• Plating Jose Andres' gala dish.
• Plating Jose Andres' gala dish.
• Plating Jose Andres' gala dish.
• Plating Jose Andres' dish.
• Le Bernardin executive pastry chef Michael Laiskonis with avocado puree.
• Chefs Eric Ripert, Charlie Trotter, and Jose Andres discuss the gala dinner menu.
• Chef Jose Andres' dish awaits its final components, sea urchin and white garlic soup.
• Chefs Andres and Ripert expediting the gala dinner.
• Think Food Group chef Aitor Zabaca.
• Expediting chef Schwartz's dish.
• Succulent component for Jose Andres' dish.
• Front of the house Mario Cabezas consults on service with Andres and Ripert.
• Chef de cuisine Thomas Tennant of Michael's Genuine Food & Drink Grand Cayman plates Jose Andres' dish with 10 Arts and Top Chef Jennifer Carroll
• Michael's Genuine Food & Drink chef de cuisine Thomas Tennant plating Jose Andres' dish with 10 Arts and Top Chef Jennifer Carroll.
• Chef Suser Lee talks plating design with his team.
• Chef Susur Lee and Ritz-Carlton chefs in the Blue by Eric Ripert kitchen.
• Think Food Group chef Aitor Zabaca plates Jose Andres' dish, Sea Urchin & King Crab, Black Garlic & White Garlic Soup.
• Think Food Group chef Aitor Zabaca plates Jose Andres' gala dish.
• Think Food Group chef Aitor Zabaca plates Jose Andres' gala dish.
• Think Food Group chef Aitor Zabaca plates Jose Andres' gala dish.
• A course of plating design with Suser Lee's culinary team.
• Think Food Group Chef Aitor Zacapa.
• Think Food Group chef Aitor Zacapa.
• Think Food Group and Le Bernardin chefs working on Jose Andres' gala dish.
• Think Food Group and Le Bernardin chefs work on Jose Andres' dish.
• Front and back of the house collaborate for a smooth service.
• Michael's Genuine Food & Drink executive pastry chef Hedy Goldsmith tending to chef Schwartz's pearl onions.
• Michael's Genuine Food & Drink Executive Pastry Chef Hedy Goldsmith.
• Michael's Genuine Food and Drink chef de cuisine Thomas Tennant preps pan-roasted pheasant breast.
• Michael's Genuine Food & Drink power duo, chef Michael Schwartz and Executive Pastry Chef Hedy Goldsmith.
• Michael's Genuine Food & Drink Executive Pastry Chef Hedy Goldsmith works on chef Michael Schwartz's pearl onions.
• Michael's Genuine Food & Drink Executive Pastry Chef Hedy Goldsmith works on chef Michael Schwartz's pearl onions.
• Chef Michael Schwartz of Michael's Genuine Food & Drink and Executive Pastry Chef Hedy Goldsmith.
• Executive pastry chef Hedy Goldsmith of Michael's Genuine Food & Drink tends to chef Schwartz's pearl onions.
• Chef Andres conducts a communication experiment between kitchen and dining room.
• Chef Jose Andres conducting a communication experiment with the Blue dining room.
• Chef Jose Andres conducting a communication experiment with the Blue dining room.
• Chef Charlie Trotter shares his thoughts with Eric Ripert.
• Chef Schwartz waiting for the pheasant breast in the window.
• Chef Jose Andres shows the Blue by Eric Ripert dining room chef Michael Schwartz's dish, Pan Roasted Breast of Pheasant with Braised Leg, Local Calabaza, Herb Salad, and Black Truffle.
• Chef Michael Schwartz expedites his pan roasted pheasant with chefs Andres and Ripert.
• Chef Michael Schwartz's dish, pan roasted pheasant with braised leg, local calabaza, herb salad, and black truffles.
• Expo line.
• Plating chef Schwartz's pheasant dish.
• Plating chef Schwartz's pheasant dish.
• Expo line.
• Expo line.
• Expediting chef Schwartz's dish.
• Expediting chef Schwartz's pheasant dish.
• Plating line.
• Plating line.
• Chef Andres, Ripert, and Schwartz expediting the Blue by Eric Ripert gala dinner, finale to Cayman Cookout.
• Expediting the gala dinner at Blue by Eric Ripert, finale to the Cayman Cookout.
• Food running chef Michael Schwartz's pan roasted pheasant with braised leg, local calabaza, herb salad, and black truffle.
• Jose Andres conducting a communication experiment with the dining room while Anthony Bourdain prepares his message.
• Gala dinner guest Anthony Bourdain beats Jose Andres at his own game, who had been sending messages to the Blue dining room throught the evening via In-kitchen cameras.
• Gala dinner guest Anthony Bourdain beats Jose Andres at his own game, who had been sending messages to the Blue dining room throught the evening via In-kitchen cameras.
• Expediting Susur Lee's Asian marinated certified Angus Beef striploin, daikon, island scotch bonnet ponzu sauce, beurre noisette.
• Expediting Susur Lee's Asian marinated certified Angus Beef striploin, daikon, island scotch bonnet ponzu sauce, beurre noisette.
• Chefs Eric Ripert expedites Suser Lee's dish.
• Eric Ripert expediting Suser Lee's dish.
• Eric Ripert expediting Suser Lee's dish.
• The food runner hand-off, Eric Ripert expediting Suser Lee's dish.
• Jose Andres and Eric Ripert expediting Suser Lee's dish.
• Chefs Eric Ripert hands off Suser Lee's dish to a Blue food runner.
• Chef Andres expedites Suser Lee's dish.
• Suser Lee's dish featured a jewel-like island scotch bonnet and yuzu sauce over poched daikon and striploin.
• Chefs Eric Ripert and Jose Andres expedite Suser Lee's dish.
• Eric Ripert expediting Suser Lee's dish.
• Chef Michael Schwartz.
• Chef Suser Lee spoons his island scotch bonnet and yuzu sauce on the plate.
• Chef Suser Lee saucing his plate.
• Plating chef Suser Lee's dish.
• Eric Ripert introduces the gala chefs to the dining room at the conclusion of the meal.
• Chef Eric Ripert introduces the gala chefs to the dining room at the end of the meal.
• Wine expert Anthony Giglio and VP/Publisher Christina Grdovich of Food & Wine Magazine.
• Chef Jose Andres and Michael's Genuine Food & Drink Brand Manager Jackie Sayet.
• Michael's Genuine Food & Drink executive pastry chef Hedy Goldsmith and Brand Manager Jackie Sayet make a chef Jose Andres sandwich.

It's a rough job, but somehow Eater Miami correspondent Jackie Sayet has managed to get through all the grueling dinners, cocktails and chef's egos to present us with this exclusive look at the bachannal known as the Cayman Cookout. The spirit of collaboration was alive and well again at Sunday night's gala dinner at Blue at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman featuring six courses by six culinary talents, Louis Lujan, Eric Ripert, Jose Andres, Charlie Trotter, Susur Lee, Michael Schwartz, and Michael Laiskonis. Trotter arrived late for the group photo, claiming he was getting double certified in night diving -- a quip no doubt intended for Andres, who passed his scuba test the day prior.

The chefs and their teams quickly got to work in the kitchen, which was wired for television monitors in the dining room for guests to check out the action. Assembly line-style the dishes came together, one by one in a flurry of tweets and flashes, tweezers and ladles. Chef Andres made sure to put the back-of-the-house camera to good use, doodling and provoking a cheers from the dining room holding up such notes as "Bourdain is a Vegetarian." This of course prompted the writer and Emmy award-winning host of No Reservations to leave his table for a lively sparring of the written word in the kitchen ("Jose, the weed you sold me is no good!") Take a bow chefs. It was a great meal and cap to an even better weekend. So now the question is, who will be invited back next year?

Best sip: 2001 Gran Reserva Remirez de Ganuza Rioja Spain, poured by Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman Head-Sommelier Kristian Netis.
Best bite: Susur Lee's poached daikon and island scotch bonnet ponzu sauce.