Friday, December 7, 7:00 pm
Members $750*, General Public $1,000*

How do you capture the memory of a taste? What if you could bottle the aroma of freshly baked bread? Or dab the scent of just-brewed coffee behind your ears? Does the browned-butter flavor of flaky puff pastry transport you to a patisserie in Paris? Join the James Beard Foundation for a multisensory event that will tantalize your taste buds, tickle your nose, and trigger profound food memories-all in the course of an exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime dinner at the Beard House.

Your host for the evening is Chandler Burr, the Fragrance Critic for T: The New York Times Style Magazine, and a world-renowned expert on perfume and the sense of smell. He has a particular professional and personal interest in the parfums gourmands category of scents, the industry term for aromas that derive from food sources, both familiar and exotic. Burr is also the author of The Emperor of Scent (Random House) and the forthcoming The Perfect Scent from Henry Holt in January 2008.

Chef Paul Liebrandt is a culinary iconoclast whose celebrated cooking is at once audacious and delicious. British-born and -trained, Liebrandt studied with three-Michelin-star chef Marco Pierre White, two-Michelin-star chef Richard Neat, and the celebrated two-Michelin-star chef Raymond Blanc of Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons. His "daring, distinctive style," as the New York Times's William Grimes described it, blossomed at Atlas, which Grimes declared "one of the most exciting [restaurants] in the city" in 2000. For this one night we are pulling Liebrandt away from his soon-to-open Manhattan restaurant to create a menu that will play off the collection of scents and aromas in Chandler Burr's dining-room presentation.

Limited to 25 guests seated at a communal table, this tightly orchestrated evening will take the shape of a gastronomic journey through familiar flavors, nostalgic memories, and feats of culinary daring. Burr, an inveterate performer, will discuss and allow guests to sniff a series of groupings of scents (both raw gourmand materials and exquisite perfumes); interspersed with his offerings will be courses of Liebrandt's food that are resonant with or inspired by the fundamental flavors represented in the groupings' aromas. As the evening progresses-and the superb wines flow-diners will anticipate each scent set, talking about the foods evoked and the flavors that follow. At the end of this extraordinary night, guests will receive a special gift and a souvenir menu.

*A portion of each ticket price is tax deductible, as follows:
Members ($400 is a tax-deductible charitable donation)
General Public ($650 is a tax-deductible charitable donation)