SUN VALLEY - To get food from a half-dozen chefs, ordinarily you'd have to go to a half-dozen restaurants. And to sample food from a private chef, ordinarily you'd have to go to a catered event - or cater it yourself.

But this winter, The Restaurant at Elkhorn Springs will bring the south-central Idaho's best private chefs into one kitchen, where they'll show off their culinary creativity with four-course, prix fixe dinners.

"We have the luxury of having the building and the equipment," said Debbie Bacca, organizer of The Elkhorn Supper Club. "I let them take it and run."

Last weekend, chef Laura Apshaga kicked off the series with a $65-per-head dinner, and Elkhorn neighborhood resident Linda Petersen was so impressed she'll be back with her husband and friends this weekend.

"The soup was fabulous, the salad was fabulous," Petersen said. "We never eat desserts because we've been on the Atkins diet, but we ate the dessert."

This weekend, chef Rob Wuerfel will create Asian fusion dishes, with a focus on Thai cuisine. Wuerfel, a freelance private chef in New York, Louisiana and California who just moved to Ketchum, said the supper club allows him to offer dishes not available anywhere else in town.

"This was a perfect match for what I do," Wuerfel said. He said he's never heard of a restaurant featuring different chefs each weekend, but since the restaurant is otherwise empty, "this is an opportunity that's unique to their situation out there."

Earlier this week, Wuerfel had his calculator out, multiplying smaller recipes to serve more than 100 diners. He was planning his menu, choosing dishes that exemplify his style of fusion, including a panko-breaded halibut in a green curry broth with jasmine saffron rice.

"The halibut would be where your Pacific Rim is, panko is Japanese, jasmine rice is Thai, and the saffron is Spanish in it, and the green curry coconut broth has a classic French fume and Vietnamese sauce," Wuerfel said.

Ariel Hansen may be reached at 208-788-3475 or ahansen@magicvalley.com.

Chef Rob Wuerfel's Green Curry Coconut Broth

This broth, in which a panko-crusted halibut will rest as one of the two entrees this weekend, is not a typical coconut-based broth, Wuerfel said. Instead, it relies on fish for its base - ask your fishmonger for the fish stock, or make your own. Vietnamese fish sauce and green curry paste are available at Asian markets and many grocery stores.

"It's a major showstopper," Wuerfel said. "Ten out of 10 times, (diners) are asking for the recipe."

4 1/2 quarts fish stock

1 ounce ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

3/4 cup Vietnamese fish sauce

1/4 bunch cilantro (stems included)

1/2 bunch basil (stems included)

3 1/2 cans coconut milk

1/2 cup green curry paste

2 stalks lemon grass (cut into quarters)

Assemble all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain and serve. Makes 10 8-ounce servings.

This weekend's menu at The Restaurant at Elkhorn Springs Salad: Mixed greens tossed in an Asian vinaigrette, with shaved iced carrots, seasoned cucumber and green onion Appetizer: Crab Rangoon with smoked paprika and a sweet chili sauce Entree choice No. 1: Oven-roasted, panko-breaded halibut set on top of saffron jasmine rice with a green curry coconut broth Entree choice No. 2: Filet mignon with a red curry coconut sauce, and smoked mashed potatoes with ginger, truffle and basil with sauteed snow peas Dessert: Trio of sorbets, including blueberry ginger, coconut lime and mango Elkhorn Supper Club The Restaurant at Elkhorn Springs will feature different guest chefs each weekend through the winter, cooking a prix fixe dinner with soup or appetizer, salad, two entree choices and dessert. The price will vary depending on the chef, and dinner seatings start at 5:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Reservations required: 726-3800. This weekend's $45 dinner features chef Rob Wuerfel; next weekend's meal features chef Brent Barsotti, who will cook Italian. Longtime area residents may remember Barsotti from his former restaurant at Warm Springs, Barsotti's Mountain Cafe. Future chefs have not yet been selected.