Romeoville chef blends culinary passion and conservation

Dan Casey joined The Nature Foundation board in 2024. (Photo by Chad Merda)

Local chef Dan Casey hopes to blend his love of food, nature and people to strengthen the Will County community.

Casey, a board member for The Nature Foundation of Will County, is executive chef at McWethy’s Tavern, a popular eatery at Mistwood Golf Club in Romeoville. At McWethy’s, bringing people together with food is his focus, and he hopes to be able to accomplish the same in his role with the Foundation. 

Casey joined The Nature Foundation board in 2024. He learned about the Foundation through his involvement with the Village of Romeoville’s Conservation and Sustainability Commission. Jennifer Gabrenya, a Commission member and The Nature Foundation board chair, shared with him how like-minded the two organizations are. Extending his community involvement by joining The Nature Foundation board seemed like a natural way to further his commitment to his community and conservation initiatives.

“I realized The Nature Foundation was raising money for everything I love about the Forest Preserve, so it made perfect sense. Anything I can get involved with and especially with like-minded people who are passionate about what they do, I'm on board.”

Casey feels a responsibility to nature and conservation causes because neither the restaurant nor golf industries are known for being green. His involvement provides an opportunity to balance those negative effects with positive impacts in this community.

“Restaurants have a huge carbon footprint,” said Casey. “I’m trying to be part of the solution while still knowing I’m a huge part of the problem.”

Casey has dedicated his career to food. He trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago and worked at several well-known restaurants and hospitality companies, including Walt Disney World’s BoardWalk resort and the Ritz Carlton in Chicago.  He said, “landing at McWethy’s ended up being the greatest thing that ever happened to me.”

For him, working in restaurants has always been about building community and connecting with people.

“I never wanted a Michelin star or all these accolades, but I did want to talk to someone who ate in the restaurant the day before and sort of build a community. And that's what I have here.”

His sense of community applies not just to restaurant patrons and coworkers but suppliers as well. At McWethy’s, he develops relationships with suppliers for the restaurant’s most used ingredients, from flour to pork, with an eye on sustainability and locally sourced ingredients. The restaurant also has a farm and an apiary to source the honey and some of the produce featured in many dishes.

“Every sustainable vendor that we use, from a farm to a local business, we put them on our menu and give them the credit they deserve on our website. We try to hoist them up to connect to our larger community.”

Casey frequently shares snapshots of his personal and professional lives with his thousands of followers on social media, and he hopes he can use his online presence to help raise the profile of The Nature Foundation.

“To have a professional identity that you can use to serve your community — that’s taking advantage of it in the best way possible and I feel like that’s in line with my personal integrity.”

Casey and his wife live in Romeoville with their two children.  They regularly cook together and take advantage of Forest Preserve programs and nearby O’Hara Woods Preserve.  For Casey, the outdoors is an escape from the frenetic pace of working in a restaurant kitchen, where the days are long and hard, and everything seems far removed from nature.

“I feel like the hustle and bustle of the restaurant is just constant, constant, constant. With nature, you can sort of just escape and keep your mind in a healthy place.”

Casey has always used nature as a restorative space, and he hopes to pass that on to his kids. As he’s gotten more involved in conservation, he’s realized how much these natural areas add value to our communities and people’s lives.

His commitment to community and conservation isn’t a fleeting one. He’s in it for the long haul.

“I just try to stay humble. I know that I’m being judged by the food we put out every day,” he said of how he stays focused in the kitchen. “I could do something great today, and then tomorrow I still have to come in and do many great things again.”

For some people, that may seem defeating, but Casey sees it as energizing. He’s not afraid of hard work, and he hopes to bring that can-do attitude to his work with The Nature Foundation.

“I’ll do whatever the hard thing is.”