A mandoline is also useful in preparing Mediterranean leek salad, which combines a bunch of thinly sliced raw leeks with a quick vinaigrette and some tomatoes and cucumber.

White bean and leek salad could have used a boost of herbs.

One can begin with slivered leek salad nestled beside smoked eel fillets, green salad with warm braised wild goose breast, or an earthy yet delicate soup of pureed oyster plant given texture by bits of boiled beef.

Dinner for two, with borscht, leek salad, Chateaubriand with potatoes dauphinoise, and for dessert, flambeed crepes, is about $65, with wine.

She pairs braised leeks with steak and serves a Moroccan-influenced leek salad of wheat berries, celery root and a turmeric vinaigrette with seared sturgeon.

RECOMMENDED DISHES: Potato and goat cheese tart, apple and blue cheese salad, grilled leek salad, salmon with ginger and cucumber salad, roasted chicken, carrot cake, chocolate pot de crème.

It goes well with the elegantly earthy grilled leek salad, sprinkled with truffle oil and studded with tiny fingerling potatoes.

We began with a piquant avocado mousse with a creamy leek salad and sesame biscuits and an exquisite Asian fantasy in the form of a crabmeat and coconut patty served with stir-fried vegetables flavored with ginger and coriander.