These are images from a private chef event last weekend. The menu was 6 courses and mostly spring oriented with a few winter projects of mine respresented. Here's how it read:

vegetable bisque with coconut, red curry, brown butter shrimp

mache and arrugula salad with parmesan terrine, gold beet sauce

olive oil poached tuna with mint, red quinoa, and black hummus

NY strip cooked "parlet", spring vegetables, sunchoke puree, thyme shallot sauce

beet halwa, vanilla legere, crispy cashew cookie

chocolate hazelnut panna cotta with steamed hazelnut milk, espresso chocolate brownie, chocolate crunch bar and whipped cream

A few thoughts from the process:
When we had that stint of very warm weather, the soup course changed from miso based to Thai curry based. There's an element of drama when eating this soup as it turns from off-white in color to red (and gets more flavorful) gradually. The small spheres of potent red curry sauce melt into the hot soup as the eater stirs and siawdawdps.

Bagna Cauda is a dipping sauce made from mostly olive oil with anchovies, garlic, chile, herbs, etc. I wanted the flavors to bring more dynamic to the salad course... and in honor of the great Italian Parmesano Reggiano, why not use a classic Italian sauce. However, in a not so classic fashion, I emulsified it into salt roasted gold beet puree. This gave it a texture better suited for the dish, smooth and sweet instead of just oily. So in the end, it can not really be called Bagna Cauda, though that was the origin of my thinking.

I was really really happy with the tuna course. Why pair quinoa with hummus and tuna you ask? Well, I worked out a simple way to gently poach (or confit) the tuna in olive oil....without having sous vide equipment... while I was working at Marigold Kitchen in Philadelphia. The chef, Israeli influenced, made amazing hummus and used it in fine dish composition. I must have tried the too together cause it clicked. The red quinoa fit in because I thought it had a nutty-buttery taste.... like tahini... so.... add some small diced cuccumber for a fresh/crisp bite and there it is.

And I must mention the wines! Really great pairings! Thanks to Zach for his help. Here they are in relative order:

Soup course: Kunde Estate 2007 Viognier Sonoma valley

Salad course: August Cellars 2007 Pinot Gris Oregon

Tuna course: Jean Boillot 1998 Volnay 1er cru Les Chevrets

Steak course: 1986 Leoville Barton

First Dessert: Chateau Pajzos Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos 1993

Chocolate: Coume Del Mas 200, "Quintessence" Banyuls