The way chefs approach food can be as individual as the sound of their voice, although every cook strives to communicate the same thing - a perfect harmony of flavor irresistible to the listener's palate.

Imagine an evening of culinary banter between multiple mouth-watering courses, each prepared by its own renowned chef, and wines paired specifically to enhance each dish.

The Taste of Vail Chefs Showcase Dinners, featuring nationally acclaimed chefs, will bring the conversation to life at three Vail restaurants this week, where preparation is the key factor in the expression of the food.

Game Creek Restaurant

Tonight, high atop Vail Mountain, while dozens of foodies dine their way through five courses at Game Creek Restaurant, the chefs responsible for creating the fare will be back in the kitchen, all together for the first time, tasting one another's creations and sipping the wines.

"We want the food to make a connection with the guests, and I want to create that same connection with the chefs," said Game Creek Executive Chef Thomas Newsted.

Newsted emphasizes the importance of tantalizing the palate with the way a meal flows from beginning to end, neither spontaneous nor secondary. Rather a well-thought succession starts out crisp and clean and ends with big, full flavor.

Nationally acclaimed guest chef Rick Moonen, of the rm restaurant at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, will prepare the first course, a trio of tartars featuring tuna toro scented with black Truffles, Kona-kampachi with yuzu and grape fruit and American Kobe beef with quail egg.

"It's a great way to start a meal," Moonen said. "It's light, refreshing and really flavorful."

The chef placed a quail egg on top of the Kobe beef, he said, to tie in the flavors of Newsted's second course, quail breast aside brandied strawberry and blueberry "French toast," foie gras and blood orange maître d'hôtel butter.

"You never want to back up on flavor," Newsted said.

Ludwig's in the Sonnenalp

Adam Roustom, executive chef at Ludwig's at the Sonnenalp Resort, can't wait to compare notes when four renowned chefs enter his kitchen Thursday to cook their course, including guest chef Martial Nogiuer of Chicago's one sixtyblue restaurant.

"We've all cooked scallops. We've also cooked short ribs. We've all cooked veal. But to see how different chefs approach the same thing, you'll get 10 different recipes. To me, that's exciting," Roustom said, as he prepared to slow roast veal shoulder for his interpretation of the third course - a duo of veal, including seared veal loin and slow roasted shoulder en fills, watercress and sumac petite salad with saffron foam.

"I like to introduce the guests to something they don't normally have," said the chef. "It's like eating a tomato fresh with a little olive oil or a tomato roasted in the oven. They're two different cuts of veal, and when they come together, you show off how one ingredient can be so diverse."

Roustom believes the flow of a meal is just as important as the individual components.

"When you create a dish, it's about the ingredient. The ingredients stand on their own and then fit into the finished product. It's the parts making the whole, and the whole making the parts."

Zach's Cabin, Bachelor Gulch

When Executive Chef Tim McCaw of Zach's Cabin and Sean Razee, Remington's master of wine at The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch, began planning Friday's Chefs Showcase at Zach's, with special guest chef Jennifer Jasinski of Rioja, Denver, they chose an unorthodox approach to pairing. They chose the wine first - a 2004 Melville pinot noir with a medium ruby color, notes of ripe cherry, raspberry and strawberry, a scent of purple and white flowers, and a hint of minerality.

McCaw, up for the challenge, created a variety of dishes including parsnip puree with sea scallops over pork belly, one with truffle hollandaise and one without, as well as a lobster bouillabaisse.

Razee visited McCaw Wednesday among the snowy aspens for a taste test.

Razee, who is studying for the master sommelier title, said it's important to like the food alone and the wine alone before you can make a tasty pairing.

As the chef and the wine master dug in to each morsel, it was obvious which dish had won them over.

"I think we've found our dish," McCaw said as he scooped up another bite of sea scallops with truffle sauce.

"It's perfect," Razee agreed. "You just want to keep eating it. The tiny bit of saltiness in the scallops and match beautifully with the sweetness of wine."

Razee explained that with the bouillabaisse and the wine, you feel one is diminishing the other, perhaps the wine isn't sweet enough for the spiciness in the dish.

"The wine actually expands the flavor of the scallops," he said. "It's about trying to maximize pleasure - like an entire festival that revolves around food and wine, my passion."



Staff Writer Laura A. Ball can be reached at 949-0555, ext. 14641, or laball@vaildaily.com.



Vail, Colorado