Moët & Chandon White Star NV | food tastes | New England | Graham Beck Chardonnay

When it finally arrives - a rice-cracker-crusted tuna - it is, of course, a knockout. The salty crunch of the rice cracker marries perfectly with the buttery tuna, a fish that sat before us on the table not 20 minutes prior. We chase it with Moët & Chandon White Star NV from the Epernay Champagne appellation and toast to our good fortune.

Though none of us is too keen on trying conch after Brown's complete disregard for sensitive stomachs and American food tastes, we suck it up on the second course and lap up the excellent conch chowder, more reminiscent of the Manhattan version than the New England one. Next comes a frisée, endive, pear, and blue cheese salad - an uncomplicated dish that revels in its simplicity and freshness - paired with an earthy Marquis de Garraud 2002 Bordeaux.

A three-course whammy of entrées follows, and it's the best yet that Vongerichten has offered on this balmy evening. We begin with a grouper with roasted pickled peppers, combined with a 2004 South African Graham Beck Chardonnay - crisp with hints of lime and vanilla - which proves to be an excellent companion.

Lobster thermidor arrives next, a rich, fat portion of lobster tail browned to perfection in the superbroiler. It's paired with a unique Falanghina Fendi San Gregorio from Campania, Italy, and our taste buds are shocked and awed. Then comes the meal's coup de grâce: a New York strip au poivre paired with a 2002 Stag's Leap Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon that had been decanted and allowed to breathe for four hours.

This succulent piece of perfectly grilled, medium-rare beef is loaded down with more pepper than an Indian spice market. Some in our party complain that it is too much; for me, it couldn't have been enough. Pepper is one of my best friends. Moreover, it's the quintessential embodiment of the perfect dish: nothing more than a darn good steak chased by a darn good wine, which is all you can really ask for when you dine at Vongerichten's house.