ITHACA, N.Y. -- On March 10, Floyd Cardoz, executive chef of New York City's Tabla restaurant, will launch the spring 2002 Guest Chefs Series with a sumptuous four-course dinner at the Statler Hotel on Cornell University's campus. The event, featuring Cardoz's unique Indian-inspired international cuisine, is open to the public.

Tabla earned a three-star review in The New York Times in 1999, soon after it opened, and Times restaurant critic Ruth Reichl wrote: "For me it was love at first bite."

For the event, which is sponsored by Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, Cardoz will prepare his signature meal for the community with assistance from Hotel School students in the Guest Chefs course. The cost is $75 per person; $15 for the wine package. A 6:30 p.m. reception is followed by dinner at 7 p.m. at Banfi's restaurant. For reservations, call (607) 254-2624, e-mail guestchefs@sha.cornell.edu or visit: http://www.statlerhotel.cornell.edu/calendar/ .

A native of Bombay, India, Cardoz combines his homeland's cuisine with classical culinary training. The result: beautifully presented, innovative dishes highlighting the foods' natural flavors, and savory Indian spices that suggest memorable tastes from the chef's childhood. Cardoz explains, "You get the hints of flavor without overpowering your mouth."

The reception features Tabla's tamarind margaritas and an array of inspired appetizers, such as seared duck breast with cranberry chutney. Dinner begins with crispy skate (a succulent fish) and frisée-herb salad with lime-kokum vinaigrette. Course two is Nova Scotia lobster curry with rock shrimp and a blend of Indian vegetables lightly flavored with coconut milk. Course three is braised, marinated oxtail (which resembles osso bucco) and potato risotto with mustard greens and a touch of horseradish. And dessert is vanilla bean kulfi, an Indian ice cream, with citrus fruit and delicate rosewater flavorings.

Tabla general manager Randy Garutti, a Cornell Hotel School alumnus (Class of 1997) and lecturer Barbara Lang, who teaches the Guest Chefs course and organizes the series, also will be

working with the students, whose meal preparations included months of planning and conference calls with Cardoz and a "tasting" dress rehearsal last week attended by Ithaca's mayor, Alan Cohen.

Upcoming dates, events and guest chefs are: March 27, a Winemaker's Dinner, presented by vintner Cristina Mariani of Tuscany's Castello Banfi and Statler executive chef Craig Hartman; and April 21, contemporary Western U.S. cuisine by Mark Miller, owner of Red Sage Restaurant (Washington, D.C.) and Coyote Café (Santa Fe and Las Vegas). Guests who attend all three events get a free autographed cookbook featuring the recipes served.

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