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     “I can’t think of a better way to spend my birthday,” said a young woman at the gorgeously decorated Chef’s table at the Waldorf Hotel. When you think of the Waldorf Hotel you think of luxury – of sterling silverware, fine bone china, and of course, delicious food. After all, this is where the Waldorf Salad – the epitome of every elegant ladies’ lunch, was born.

     To dine at New York’s elegant Waldorf Hotel is an elegant treat. The dinning room and cuisine is just as fabulous as you’d expect. Yet the hotel is now surpassing expectations with this season’s “Chef Table Dinner Series” starring their own executive chef John Doherty, author of the new The Waldorf-Astoria Cookbook.

     What’s a Chef Table, you might wonder? In fine restaurants, chefs often have a table in the kitchen so guests can see their cuisine prepared and feel like a culinary insider. Chef Doherty takes the concept several steps higher by orchestrating a dazzling presentation for the eye, including the most lavish spread of hors d’oeuvres I’ve ever seen … including tiny glasses of freshly made corn soup (the last of the season) topped with warm buttery lobster, “lollipops” of seared tuna, foie gras, and many more attractively arranged on a gorgeously decorated table in front of a handful of white-clad sous chefs. As you sample them, you can actually watch the chef prepare and cook refills. At the same time, waiters offer sparkling champagne from highly polished silver salvers.

     One would think this abundant spread of cuisine was the “chef’s dinner” in itself so restrain yourself – once you sit down at the prettily set tables, you will find five courses to come, each paired with a spectacular wine chosen by the hotel’s sommelier Christophe Orlarei.

     “I put corn and figs on the menu because in a week, they’ll be out of season,” says Doherty, citing his philosophy about using the freshest seasonal ingredients he can find from his purveyors. The first course, acorn squash soup, was served with roasted fig and fennel-garlic pastry and paired with Benzinger Sauvignon Blanc from California, 2003. Next came corn and jalapeno risotto with the most gorgeous, plum scallop I’ve seen (carmelized to absolute perfection), accompanied by candied tomoato and crisp bacon. This dish was paired with Sequia Grove chardonnay from Carneros, California.

     Before the smoked salmon with watercress salad and parmesan fried egg could be served, however, the sous chefs needed help. “We usually pick the most enthusiastic guests to help us plate a course,” smiled Chef Doherty, giving my guest and myself gloves. My guest was responsible for placing the salad on the plate, and I was to add the egg on top. It was an interesting experience as the waiters were lining up, waiting for the dish to be plated and delivered to the expectant guests. One could imagine the pressure on a ‘real’ sous chef responsible for plating dinners in a top restaurant, where everything had to be just so.

     After the smoked salmon, served with Moulin A Vent “Chageau Des St. Jacques” Louis Jadot, France, 2004, we savored the main course, sautéed prime beef tenderloin with leaf spinach, pickled onions, and rigatoni filled with beef daube and Asiago cheese sauce. A fabulous Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino, 2001, accompanied this dish.

     While the dinner was fabulous, one of the key benefits to the evening was the insider’s tour and ability to see, from A to Z, what goes on inside the kitchen of one of the best and most grand hotels in the entire world. The evening starts out with guests meeting by the famed clock in the elegant lounge. Chef Doherty greets each of the 30 guests this event can accommodate, and leads them on a tour of the hotel’s many kitchens (it takes up nearly a city block).

     A hotel the size of the Waldorf has kitchens used by room service, banquets, and the main dinning room but certain areas are central. For example, Doherty showed us a room filled with enormous cauldrons. Each night, more than one thousand pounds of bones are boiled down to use for all the soups, sauces, and broths the kitchen prepares each day. In the pastry room, we caught a glimpse of the yet-unassembled baked Fuji Apple Pain Perdu we would enjoy for dessert, to be topped with vanilla bean ice cream.

     During dessert, we enjoyed Michele Chiarlo Nivole Moscato, and some vivid tasting notes delivered by Lindsay Ferriter from Kobrand, distributor for the wines, who came to each table for each of the courses to explain the basis of the food and wine pairing. Chef Doherty only offers six of these special “insider” dinners during this fall and winter season, so if you plan to come to Manhattan, make your reservation right away. (212) 872-1275 http://www.waldorfchefstable.com

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