We were lucky enough to be invited to tag along to a fabulous dinner party thrown by friends of friends on New Year’s Eve.  They managed a fully-plated, multicourse dinner for 20, incorporating dishes from all over the french-speaking world, including both fish and lamb chops that were cooked *perfectly*.
I was impressed.  And very well fed.  Here are pictures:
  
brik of chicken, charmoula and egg, with homemade harissa

amuse bouches: cherry tomato with feta, potato with truffled foie gras, creme fraiche and caviar

vietnamese crab and asparagus soup (in an exquisitely subtle pork/ginger broth)

sea bass in madagascar spices, with cucumber-onion salad

palate cleanser of mango and grapefruit granitas

gorgeous lamb chop in homemade demiglace, with wok-fried green beans and a phyllo package of lobster, chanterelles & nuts, in a red-wine-cream sort of sauce.  purported to be quebecois; delicious no matter where it’s from.

cool rice salad with chevre, sun-dried tomatoes, yellow peppers and scallion

cheese plate, including dried cherries, date paste and home-candied grapefruit peel

chocolate gateau and gelee of champagne with winter citrus fruit