Some 300 years ago, the Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Pérignon is said to have called to his abbeymates, "Come quickly! I'm drinking stars!" Of course, he was probably speaking French or Latin or something, but the essence of his words, that Champagne was a drink from the heavens, resonates to this day. Through experimentation and serendipity, Dom Pérignon managed to capture bubbles in a bottle of white wine. Over the course of the next three centuries, this sparkling wine would become the drink of celebrations the world over.

For this special Beard House event, we celebrate that celebratory drink with a dinner prepared by Michelle Bernstein, chef of The Strand in Miami Beach. No doubt a fair number of stars have wined and dined in Bernstein's restaurant, which sits on the star-studded strip of Ocean Drive in Miami's red-hot Art Deco district. For the restaurant, which is part of the South Beach revival, owner Michel Castellanoand partner Eric Milon teamed with Bernstein to open a place that's been described as embodying "the youthful vigor and excitement of the new Miami while preserving the elegant hospitality of an earlier era."

Before she danced in front of the stoves at The Strand, Bernstein danced in front of an audience as a teenager with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company in New York. An injury forced her to retire and pursue studies in chemistry, nutrition, and food. She was a student in the first class of Johnson & Wales's Miami campus, and went to work while still in school at Mark's Place. After graduation she worked with Jean-Louis Palladin at the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. From there, it was on to New York and the kitchens of Alisonon Dominick and Le Bernardin.

The only dancing that will be going on in the Beard House dining room will be the bubbles in the flutes of Moët & Chandon [pronounced mo-ETTE] poured with each course, which will be presented by Bernard Ganter. Founded by Claude Moët in 1743, Moët & Chandon has grown to be the largest producer of Champagne in the world. Perhaps no wine is as famous as Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon's tête de cuvée named for the star-swallowing monk. But the house produces great Champagnes in every category, from rosé to demi-sec. The Brut Impériale is the essence of the unique Moët & Chandon style, rich, generous, and discreet.