Enhanced Recovery After Cardiac Surgery (ERACS) programs have grown from their humble beginnings as a ‘Fast-track recovery’ pathway which was first described in 1994, and have now evolved into patient-centered, multidisciplinary, multimodal, comprehensive, evidence-based bundles that standardize care and minimize variability throughout the perioperative period. Here we will be using a model case, one familiar to most cardiac anesthesiologists, as we describe how we would like to be managed using ERACS pathways. These are the same pathways and interventions that we use almost daily in our own practices. We will highlight the key pathway elements that we would want and describe the rationale behind their use, from across the perioperative period, beginning with the initial consult for surgery to the day of surgery, and into the ICU and floor recovery onward to hospital discharge.