My ongoing dream of attending an authentic Chinese New Year's feast has finally been realized- not in China or Taipei or Hong Kong- but in Windsor, CT. After receiving an invitation from Bamboo Garden (555 Day Hill Rd., Windsor, CT 860-731-0770) for a special Chinese New Year's meal for valued customers, I panicked because I would be out of the country on that day. "No problem," said Kathleen, the owner. "Come tonight and eat with us"-the owner and employees. "I know you'll enjoy it because you will try anything." This was the hardcore meal I had fantasized about for decades. This was it- authentic, celebratory Chinese cuisine with endless amounts of dishes, a never-ending parade from kitchen to table, the culinary equivalent of perpetual motion.

I arrived with my desserts, hoping that I had a comparable surplus, namely 5-20 times more food than the available diners could consume. I brought the owner's favorite, our lychee mousse cake, plus 3 other Eastern delights: green tea cheesecake, red bean cheesecake, and crystallized ginger cheesecake. But, gazing at the table as it rapidly filled up, I quickly calculated that I should have brought 10 other flavors and 4 restaurant-sized cakes of each of those 10 flavors for a total of 15 diners. This was no ordinary feast! The table was divided into 2 sections with 7 or 8 people per section. Each section had 15 huge platters of food- so, 30 huge platters for 15 people. This was Chinese New Year's finest hour (at least for me).

What did we eat? My God, it was phenomenal! With no concession to the West, it was a feast conceived in China and served in Windsor, CT. The first 3 dishes are "must have" for Chinese New Year: deep fried hard-boiled egg with clear noodles (from Fuchow, which is home to the owner), deep fried whole fish (the head and tail must be there or the new year can't begin), and sautéed pieces of pulverized rice cake and vegetables (the significance of the rice cake is based on a play on words that equates it to an expression that means a "step up" for the new year.) I hope that these cooks will be stepped up to sainthood during the Year of the Dog.

I'm trying to decide which were my favorite dishes, but they were all my favorite dishes. All tasted authentic- nothing added for the Western palate. (I spent 3 months working in restaurants in Taipei and Hong Kong. I drank the "welcome to the kitchen of our szechuan restaurant" drink of turtle blood and rice vinegar, served in the turtle's own shell. I ate camphor and tea smoked duck, shark fin soup, and everything else that was made on those two islands during those 3 months. I have a certificate certifying that my palate is "authentic Chinese".)

So let's start with the razor clams. They cook the whole thing rather than discard the non-muscle portion. That's my kind of cooking! As with scallops, the unseen or unknown items (unknown, unless you buy them in their shell) sometimes have more flavor than the muscle. (Witness also liver, sweetbreads, brains, and those tastee treats on the underside of a chicken thigh.) It's perfectly cooked, the taste is incredible because they were alive a few seconds before, and the sauce is perfect.

Also perfect were the shrimp- purchased frozen, not fresh, laments Kathleen. They were sautéed in their shells, heads on, for 1 minute or less. (I know that you know that the flavor center of a shrimp is its head.) Fresh shrimp, whether sautéed Chinese, Thai, or Vietnamese style, boiled New Orleans style, or served raw Japanese style, are so much tastier than the frozen ones. The crunchy texture (think of a lobster) is unforgettable.

Then- duck tongues, with the little tongue bones inside, were succulent, easily identifiable as duck, with a soy sauce and ginger flavor. The little pieces of duck intestine, which I thought were exquisitely decorated squid, were also delicious, even though I have an aversion to all things intestinal. Sauteed jellyfish was crunchy and so was the conch. And so was the Peking duck. (I worked at a Peking duck restaurant in Taipei, and every head in the restaurant turned to look at me, the only non-Chinese worker, when I was out on the floor slicing duck skin.)

The snails were like little spicy treats from heaven. They were tiny, nestled deeply within shells; and only a professional could suck them out fast enough to avoid starvation. The giant crab was succulent, and "thank you" chefs for sautéing the roe and sprinkling it throughout the dish. (Thanks also to the resident sushi guy who served uni- sea urchin- which is going to send me to the Betty Ford Center one of these days.)

Did I mention the flounder with ginger and scallions? I ate the head including the cheeks. The whole deep fried fish? I ate the crunchy tail. The deep fried hard boiled eggs? Try them at home! The addictive sautéed rice cakes? Chewy and something else. The baby Chinese broccoli? Refreshing and green. What did I leave out? Oh yes- baby bok choy with Chinese mushrooms in a crab sauce.

And guess what- no rice. Why? It would take up precious room in the stomach. I believe that I was in bed by the time dessert was served. All the toasts (or were they drinking games?) had to be exhausted first.

The food was so good. The company was great. The atmosphere was festive. So, Kathleen, Happy Year of the Dog to you and your generous, fun-loving crew. Let's do this again next year.

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