An entire dinner built around mushrooms sounds a little redundant; perhaps even boring to any one who has not attended the Annual Wild Mushroom, Truffle & Pinot Noir Dinner at Parcel 104 in Santa Clara.

But such a thought is banished when eyes and nose meet a basket of the mushrooms headed for the kitchen; a colorful assortment of yellow, white, black and cream colored wild mushrooms, then come to rest on a pair of fresh-from-the-ground truffles — one black, one white.

In the kitchen, executive chef Bart Hosmer and his team turn those mushrooms into menu superstars, making them into soup, sauces, conserves, salads and some of the most heavenly potatoes on the face of the earth. Even pastry chef Carlos Sanchez joins the fun, turning porcini and chanterelle mushrooms into appetizer muffins, then using red candy cap mushrooms to make the most heavenly ice cream — the candy caps have a sweetness that tastes a lot like maple.

What makes a dinner like this, the 4th Annual Mushroom, Truffle and Pinot Noir Dinner, so much fun to attend is knowing that for this meal, the chefs are turned loose in terms of creativity.

Their assignment is simply to come up with something wonderful and delicious using some of the most rare and delicious foods on earth.

“You will taste a variety of mushrooms tonight that are very rare,” Randy Bertao, the restaurant’s master sommelier, explains to the dinner guests. “The candy cap mushrooms are available in late November only… it’s a bright red mushroom that tastes like maple syrup.”

That the chefs enjoy such creative freedom is apparent with each dish that emerges from the kitchen. Sweet bits of smoked trout are tossed with frisee and chanterelles for a salad course. Tender, silky slices of buttermilk poached chicken are laid on top of truffle cream, then topped with the most delicate slivers of crunchy beauregard yam and leek.

Perhaps the most aromatic dish of the evening were slices of veal topped with melting slivers of white truffle.

Spotlighting the food are a selection of pinot noirs, each with a personality unique to the vineyard. From the Sonoma Valley was a $70-per-bottle pinot from Iron Horse Thomas Road Vineyard that was just bright enough and acidic enough to complement the somewhat rich porcini pasta dish. Other pinots hailed from Carneros; the Santa Lucia Highlands, east of Monterey; and Arroyo Grande, near Santa Barbara.

For many, the biggest surprise came at the end, in the form of a luscious mushroom dessert. After appetizers that included mushroom flatbread and a goat milk-truffle “cappucino,” followed by four courses, diners were not exactly hungry.

But not a single guest at our table could resist dessert.

The oval-shaped plates included a crepe filled with apple-chanterelle conserve, a spoonful of the sweet candy cap mushroom ice cream described above and a shard of a crisp, salty, porcini-flavored bark. The dessert was sweet, salty, textural and aromatic — a great finish to a meal that will not soon be forgotten.

Post Script: One of the things I love about going to Parcel 104 is the service, which is perfectly choreographed. Servers arrive at each table in unison, delivering plates to the entire table at once, removing plates on cue, and catering to every need of every guest.

As courses unfold, servers scan the room, not hovering, but noticing details. They keep wine glasses filled at just the right level for each guest — they seem to know who likes a little more, who likes a little less.

The servers even manage smiles and great service under pressure: Last week’s dinner guests included a table of 14 guests from Dublin, neighbors who decided the $150-per-person dinner was the perfect opportunity to celebrate anniversaries and birthdays.

Keeping glasses full for the onslaught of toasts offered throughout the evening was no small task — especially when a nearby table joined in the fun, at one point performing a celebratory “wave” at the table.

Response from the wait staff? They politely worked around it, Miss Manners-style, as if it never happened. Seamless.

– Jolene Thym