I've never won the lottery, but I suppose I should play it sometime. Even if I were to ever win the Mega Millions jackpot, I can't imagine it would equate to the feelings of happiness and validation I felt a few weeks ago late one night. As I usually do before heading home after work, I went to pick up the early edition of the next day's New York Times and saw in real living color, plastered on two-thirds of the front page of the Dining section, a baring photograph of a dish I had created for my Pan-Latin restaurant Nuela. Suddenly I was entranced by the inspiration for my good fortune.

On my last visit to Northern Peru, where I was on a fact-finding mission to create the menu for my then-in-development restaurant, which would feature a ceviche bar, I recall the simple pleasure of late night dinners full of intriguing conversation and good wine with the local farmers and fisherman from the tiny village of Trujillo. It was there I enjoyed the local version of "rice and beans" -- an arroz con pato, a pairing of a beer-braised duck sitting atop a bed of green rice. The next morning, I was faced with a conflict. How do I translate such a beautiful and delicious but humble dish to meet the discriminating and fussy tastes of New York foodie connoisseurs? Then suddenly, I had a flashback to a time I dined on paella in Spain at one of the country's best restaurants. The next thing I knew -- EUREKA! Problem solved.

I decided to combine the ingredients of the duck -- the thigh, the gizzards, an egg (from a duck, por supuesto) and foie gras (a staple delicacy from my French culinary training) and put it on the menu as Arroz con Pato.