Tuesday, December 11, 7:00 P.M.
Members $95, guests $120

Camelback Mountain lies in the desert sun along the periphery of Scottsdale, Arizona. In her crook nestles one of the most luxurious resorts in the world, The Phoenician, part of Starwood Hotels’ Luxury Collection. Terraced pools cascade into one another, ten-foot windows give out onto expansive South-western panoramas, and a luxurious spa pampers guests with everything from massage and facials to tarot card readings. No desert Survivor episode, this! And the provisions are in line with the rest of the indulgent experience. On this special night, chef James Boyce, a frequent guest at the Beard House, will re-create an evening at the hotel’s superlative Mary Elaine’s restaurant.

Mary Elaine’s is a Mobil Five-Star restaurant that Wine Spectator described as “the most luxurious restaurant in the Phoenix area” when it awarded the wine list a coveted Grand Award. Writing in Phoenix Magazine, Nikki Buchanan put it simply: “Nothing tops Mary Elaine’s.” “Mr. Boyce’s cooking is bright, inventive and as colorful as a desert sundown,” Bryan Miller wrote in a New York Times travel article about the Phoenix restaurant scene, “yet [it] doesn’t stray far from his classic French training.”

That training began in a bagel bakery in upstate New York and brought him south to Le Cirque under chef Daniel Boulud. The exhilarating experience in the legendary New York kitchens motivated Boyce to attend the CIA. From there, he took a job with Alex Stratta at Mary Elaine’s—not knowing that he’d be back someday and running the kitchen himself. Five years later it was on to the Palace Court in Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, and then to the top spot at the Loews Coronado Bay resort in San Diego. It was there that the national food community took notice. When the Mary Elaine’s post became available in the spring of 2000, Boyce didn’t hesitate to return to his former sandy stomping ground.

The Christmas cactus blooms once a year. Mary Elaine’s is in flower all year long, but in New York you can only sample it at the Beard House this Christmas. Don’t blink, make your reservations today.