Last month, the diet-wrecker was a trip to St. Helena, to eat no less than 12 courses of food prepared by Master Chef James Corwell at The Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant. The occasion was a ``Winter Evening in Wine Country'' event, which included a cooking class and a sumptuous Thai feast.

Before the dinner, we were treated to a cooking demo, a discussion about Thai flavors, and a slide show of markets and street food in Thailand.
After about 30 minutes of instruction, the class of about 30 wandered through the stately old school to the restaurant, located at the far end of the campus.
By this time, we were good and hungry, and it's a good thing. The first flight of food included an assortment of satays, spicy minced pork on endive, roasted duck on lettuce. Every bite was great.

We rested our forks.

The second flight was even more delicious, including a hot and sour papaya salad, a shrimp salad with lemon grass and a spicy beef salad. We cleaned our plates, sated, ready for dessert.

But it was not yet time.

A bowl of hot, sour soup with a disc of lobster and a disc of scallop arrived. We ate it, knowing we would regret it. But delicious food does that to you.

Again, we waited for the dessert.

No chance. It turns out that all of the above were actually starters, and I have to say the chef truly was holding out on us. The final flight of food to arrive, included not three, not four, but five dishes. There was gai yang roasted chicken with red curry noodles, stir-fried sturgeon in fresh curry (watch the Happy Together column for a few weeks and you may find this recipe there), string beans, broccoli and sour orange vegetable curry.

What I loved about the final onslaught of dishes is that they were essentially clean, barely cooked vegetables prepared with a bit of sauce and protein.
I ate until I could no more. I ate until everyone else at the table was giving me funny looks.

What I learned that night, besides the fact that it's hard to sleep when you've eaten more than your share, is that Thai food is not about overbearing spice that obliterates the flavor of whatever food you add to it. It is about fresh, healthy, clean flavors that are brightened and intensified with a little herb and spice.
I also learned that, although it may require restraint, the all-consuming job of food writing does not mean I need to consume all that is put before me.

This year's `Winter Evenings in Wine Country'' series just ended, but keep an eye on the calendar for next year's lineup. The Wine Spectator restaurant is open daily for lunch and dinner. For reservations, please call (707) 967-1010 or visit www.ciachef.edu.
-- Jolene Thym