Bev's Place.

When I was little, I was the executive chef of a fabulous restaurant. I wrote the menus (my specials were always spaghetti or mac and cheese) and designed the decor (the finest plastic serveware I could get). While my mom would cook dinner, I would chop, saute, and braise in my Fisher Price kitchen. My restaurant was called "Bev's Place," and our clientele included A-list celebrities such as Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, and the rest of my army of stuffed animals...with an occasional guest appearance by a babysitter or an older sister's American Girl.It was my childhood dream to become a chef.

Two decades later, as you know, the chef thing didn't exactly happen, but I still love to cook for friends and family. Last weekend, I cooked my first "tasting menu," a thesis of sorts: it was the final result after years of being a sous chef to my mom, studying menus and flavors in great restaurants, and taking copious mental notes while watching the Food Network and Top Chef. Inspired by the special meals I've been fortunate to try as well as the favorite foods of a Special Someone, I presented my first degustation (and you'd better believe mac and cheese was on the menu).

I planned ahead quite a bit and managed to prepare many of the sauces and components (including a few ice creams) several days in advance. Still, the trouble with being the executive chef, sous chef, saucier, sommelier, waiter, and maitre d', is that these multiple roles make it nearly impossible to be your fellow diner's date...next time, perhaps I'll hire wait staff. The presentation was a little rough around the edges, but all things considered, I surprised myself and was thoroughly pleased with the final result (doneness, temperature, and flavors -- it was all there). I had so much fun creating the menu, and most importantly, Nick loved it all.

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Amuse-bouche: Summer asparagus soup shooter with truffle-buttered brioche toasts and a fried quail egg with black truffle salt.
The inspiration: A bite-sized play on the classic asparagus-egg combo (asparagus being Nick's favorite vegetable).

First course: Shiitake dumplings in a ginger-bacon broth.
The inspiration: A play on a dumpling-dashi dish I once had, substituting smoky bacon (Nick's other true love) for smoky bonito.

Fish course: (apologies for the hasty photography -- you know how I feel about cold fish) a seed-and-nut-crusted halibut filet over a rosemary-lima bean puree drizzled with mushroom beurre-noisette, served with hand-rolled herb gnocchi.
The inspiration: A slight twist on a recipe from my new favorite cookbook, Jean-Georges' Simple to Spectacular, accompanied by Nick's favorite, gnocchi (here's a recipe for the base: I added fresh oregano and chives).

Palate cleanser: Meyer lemon sorbet.
The inspiration: A similar dish (I swapped Meyer lemons for the original oranges), also from Simple to Spectacular.

Meat course: Seared filet mignon with a balsamic reduction, white truffle mac and cheese.
The inspiration: A twist on a classic steakhouse meal (since Nick and I both have a soft spot for mac and cheese, the old Bev's Place stand-by was right at home).

Chocolate dessert: Homemade ice cream duo: peanut butter ice cream in an edible chocolate cup with honey roasted peanuts; salted caramel-bacon ice cream.
The inspiration: Nick's all-time favorite dessert combination (chocolate and peanut butter) and his latest flavor-fav, salted caramel (which obviously called for bacon as well).

Fruit dessert: Meringue-berry "pizza."

The inspiration: It's not an homage to Nick's favorites unless there's pizza involved; a white meringue disk with fresh raspberry coulis and blackberries.