ChefSteps is a team of chefs, writers, and food lovers who develop recipes, techniques, and guides to help people cook better at home.

ChefSteps

On a sunny evening in March 2015, the ChefSteps kitchen team presented a seasonally focused, 14-course dinner for a small group of friends. We wanted to delight them with dishes that were tasty, elegant, and surprising, and that celebrated the beautiful spring ingredients that were popping up all around us at Pike Place Market. Most of all, we wanted to give them an unforgettable experience—great wine, a beautiful setting, and a lineup of lovely courses that as the evening progressed left them feeling at once satisfied and excited for what was to come.Pulling off a multicourse meal that feels fluid and fun is incredibly rewarding, but just like any other amazing production, it requires preparation and attention. You don’t just hop onstage and astound an audience with your showstopping Hamlet, delivering the Danish prince’s 4,042 lines with enough truth and meaning to elicit an ovation from Sir Laurence Olivier himself, were he still with us. Similarly, you’re not going to wow a party of 10 with several extraordinary courses without a lot of preparation. The process involves three crucial stages: (1) research and development; (2) fine-tuning the menu and pairings; and (3) execution and service. Devote enough energy to each, and you’ll wind up serving up an unforgettable dinner. Here, we share some tips for creating your own multicourse meal. You’ll also find recipes for—and notes on—each of the dishes that made up the particular menu we served. You can gather a few fellow cooks and re-create the whole shebang—wine pairings and all—or select a few dishes and do a shorter dinner. We hope this inspires you to pursue an ambitious dinner for your own friends and family. If you do, be sure to tell us about it, and share some pictures too. We’re guessing it’s going to be one hell of a show.