Chef Adam Hegsted is practicing for his upcoming dinner at the James Beard House in New York City.

Hegsted, who is the executive chef at the Coeur d'Alene Resort and Casino, and a team of chefs and servers presented the meal he's planning to make for the venerable venue at the resort last night.

Inspired by the food of this area, Hegsted's dinner opened with an appetizer plate featuring "Idaho Sushi," a small roasted potato topped with Waygu beef "sashimi". There was also roasted quail with a rhubarb barbecue sauce and cold smoked Columbia River sturgeon.

He also served a dish of morel mushrooms buried in edible forest floor along with fiddlehead ferns, among the courses.

There were dry aged lamb chops with potato gnocchi, served with nettle pesto, an Inland Northwest cheese plate and an array of berries - serviceberries, huckleberries and elderberries - with a wild rose whipped cream.

And I'm going to tell you all about the meal and Hegsted's plans for the June dinner at the Beard House in an upcoming feature story for The Spokesman-Review food page. Stay tuned.

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