Friday, February 22, 7:00 P.M.
Members $85, guests $110

It is an open secret that VIP guests at even the fanciest restaurants are allowed to order items not on the menu. Even when the other tables are covered with succulent dishes of tender organ meats dripping with butter and cream, a starlet can come in and order steamed vegetables and a dressing-free salad with Cheez-Its on the side, and have it all served under a silver dome. You might think that such treatment only comes with celebrity, power, or obscene wealth, but at the 18th-century Federal manor Morrison House in Alexandria, Virginia, every guest at the Elysium restaurant receives star treatment from executive chef Gian Piero Mazzi and his team. The menu, in fact, reads: "As it is our mission to personally assure each guest's happiness, our chefs will come to your table and create an individualized collaborative culinary adventure based upon our freshest and most unique groceries and your distinct desire."

Personally, we'd be content with the "rarefied cassoulet" or "beautifully roasted squab" with baby vegetables and red-onion tart that Cynthia Hacinli described in her Washingtonian review. Elysium, she wrote, is "Old Town's most elegant restaurant." Situated in the AAA Four-Diamond, Mobil Four-Star Morrison House, the restaurant is a recipient of both the DiRoNA and the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, while the hotel has been described by Condé Nast Traveler as among the "world's best."

Only 27 years old, Mazzi already has the credentials to match his luxurious setting. Born in La Spezia, Italy, he worked at a number of regional hotels and restaurants, including Hotel Fiascherino in Liguria. After cooking school in Florence, Mazzi moved to Paris for an externship at Chez des Amis, which soon became a full-time job. Five years ago, he moved to the United States, working for Roberto Donna at Galileo and then serving as executive sous-chef at The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner, where he assisted visiting chefs Dante Boccuzzi, Charlie Palmer, and Jean-Louis Palladin with seminars at the hotel.

Don't you deserve VIP treatment? Indulge yourself with Mazzi's perfectly attuned cuisine.