French-born chef Michel Roux, who established three-star dining in Britain in the 1960s, brought his fine cuisine to Cornell's Taverna Banfi Feb. 16, along with lessons in gourmet food preparation for Hotel School students and Statler Hotel staff.

Roux, whose classic French cuisine has consistently won the Michelin Guide's top ratings for his London restaurant Le Gavroche and The Waterside Inn in the village of Bray on the River Thames, led a team that prepared and served a four-course dinner to 110 guests as part of Cornell's 19th annual Guest Chefs Series.

The menu featured stone crab with langoustine (also known as the Norwegian lobster) tails on mango mint salsa, followed by poached fillet of sole with lobster mousse and steamed potato on a bed of sautéed spinach; and saddle of lamb stuffed with morels and served with vegetables. For dessert there was caramel chocolate mousse with mango and passion fruit sorbet.

"My cooking is classic modern French, which is not seen often," Roux said before the dinner. "But I say, it's never one type of food or cooking that should be the best."

Roux was joined in the kitchen by four New York City executive chefs: former guest chef Gerard Madani and pastry chef Gary O'Hanlon, both of The Pierre; Felix Nuñez of the Westin Hotel; and Jason Johnston of the Roosevelt Hotel.

A Guest Chefs class of 24 students, instructed by senior lecturer Giuseppe Pezzotti '84, MMH '96, worked with Roux's team and with the Statler and Taverna Banfi professional staff.

"Everyone who knows about these events wants to be involved," said Tim Ryan '08, service manager for the event. "There are TAs who would be here even if they weren't being paid. Everyone's trying to do so much. As a manager, it's interesting to watch. It's so daunting; but if you can climb to the top of Everest, then you can climb a tree every day."

Through the semester, class members form teams that rotate between production (kitchen), service (waitstaff and front of house) and marketing duties for each of three guest chef dinners. The high-profile, $150-a-person event with a renowned chef gives students a chance to shine, at table or during assembly-line production in the kitchen.

"It is very important to be able to do such an event," Roux said. "It is helpful to the students‚ understanding even more what the best can be about. It is a challenge to me as well; they keep me young and keep me interesting."

The sold-out event was preceded by two days of preparation in the Hotel School's food labs, where students were given opportunities to try methods of food preparation entirely new to them, such as filleting sole -- "a very expensive item," Roux said -- and making puff pastry by hand.

"They all perform very well," Roux said of the students. "They're not only good, but very edgy to learn. They ask the right questions. Not one of them has disappointed me."

Roux is no stranger to students; he's used to commanding up to 22 chefs at a time at The Waterside Inn Cookery School, established by his son, Alain.

Roux also offers a scholarship in his name for aspiring chefs.

"We had dinner with the chef last night, and he said they were ahead of schedule by about four hours. They were very relaxed," said Richard Adie '75, general manager of the Statler Hotel.

Roux also signed copies of his cookbooks and autobiography before the dinner, which included a champagne reception.

There are a limited number of spaces available for the next Guest Chefs Series dinners at Taverna Banfi: March 8 with Daryl Schembeck from the Delegates Dining Room at the United Nations in New York; and April 26 with Todd English, whose most recent restaurant is Olives in Las Vegas. For reservations, call (607) 254-2624.