Ask a chef to perform outside of the kitchen and it's like a fish out of water.

But not so for Starlight Casino's executive chef Rodrigo Fereira.

For the past three months, Fereira has been the star of Cooking with Rodrigo, an intimate dinner service and show in the Redbar Lounge at the swanky Queensborough restaurant.

Rodrigo, along with his staff, prepare the meals on a stage while the diners are seated "in the round" overlooking the "kitchen."

Started in August, the event has grown each month and gives foodies a chance to see first-hand what happens in a gourmet kitchen.

"This was an idea that Rodrigo came to me with from his experience working on cruise ships," said Lui Garcea, marketing manager for the Starlight Casino. "We wanted to take this to a different level and that's why we started Cooking with Rodrigo. ... Each month, he puts a special menu together, with two appetizers, an intermezzo, two entrees and dessert."

Garcea said the first event only drew eight people, but that's ballooned to more than 50 for the third event, all through word-of-mouth and a little bit of advertising.

"We're expecting a full house for our Nov. 30 event," said Garcea. "We'll take a break for Christmas but we should be back in the new year."

Fereira, who's worked in the Caribbean and Europe - in addition to his cruise ship cooking - has also worked at prestigious Michelin star restaurants.

"I really didn't think it would work out this well," Fereira says with a laugh after the October show ended. "It was an idea I thought might work because we want to be the best. ... I've always been confident that my cooking will stand on its own."

When I took my older sister - a Food Network aficionado - out for October's Cooking with Rodrigo show, we were treated to a unique Lower Mainland dining experience.

Host Clarissa Pruden - whose day job is as slots manager at the Starlight - entertained the crowd while Fereira cooked and gave us diners some interesting nuggets of information.

"Chef Rodrigo tries to incorporate both low-fat and locally grown ingredients into every dish," said Pruden. "And he tries to use as many seasonal ingredients as possible."

Our first dish was the amuse bouche, or mouth amuser, that is served as an excitement of the taste buds, both to prepare the guest for the meal and to offer a glimpse into the chef's approach to cooking.

Fereira's mouth amuser was a large shrimp wrapped in bacon and served with a 2008 Chardonnay.

"It's a large portion, with good presentation," said my sister. "Very pleasing."

Because my sister can't eat much seafood - bonus eating for me - she got more of the bacon and I had more of the shrimp. Add in the fact she can't drink alcohol and I have as perfect a dining companion as I could ever wish for.

Our first starter was the roasted butternut squash bisque served with apple chutney.

I wasn't a fan of the chutney - never been a fan of apples - but the butternut squash was very smooth and a great dish on a cold autumn night between West Coast monsoons.

As good as the bisque was, it paled in comparison to the Russian salad, which featured a julienne of vegetables, ham and creamy mayonnaise topped with a generous portion of lobster and truffles.

As Pruden gave a nice backgrounder on where truffles come from and how expensive they are, she also worked the room to show off some of the truffle oil that would be used in a future dish.

When our Russian salads came, I almost felt guilty toppling the tower of food with my fork and eating heartily. The lobster - double portions for me - went well with the julienne and the toasted crostini that came with the dish wasn't just for decoration.

As Fereira started preparing the mains, he had his staff serve the intermezzo, the green tea ice cream which is meant to cleanse the palate in preparation for the entrees.

Good thing, as our first dish was upon us, the sea scallop steak. Three plump scallops bound by some leeks and served with asparagus and red peppers were delectable. I quite enjoyed the scallops while my sister had to make do with the leaks and the asparagus.

She got her revenge though when the filet mignon came out. Served with truffle sauce and truffle oil - the promised return of the magical oil - the precious meat went very nicely with the 2008 California Zinfandel wine that was paired with it.

I let my sister eat more of the steak - after all, I'd eaten all her seafood on the night - and she devoured it pretty quickly. Good thing I could drink some more Zinfandel to soothe the pain.

As we finished with the dessert trifecta of chocolate truffles, fruit tarts and the lemon surprise parfait, Garcea, Pruden and Fereira joined us for an après-meal discussion.

"It takes so much coordination to put out this meal without an oven on the stage," said Fereira. "It takes coordination from the kitchen and it takes everybody working together."

Fereira said he would have been in trouble if too many diners had asked for their filets to be cooked rare or well-done.

"We did everything between medium rare to medium well and we only had six people ask for something different," said Fereira. "These are the details you learn about actually doing the show."

And Pruden's role can't be discounted, as she has to keep everybody entertained while the food is prepared.

"I try to bring some colour and some interesting stories to our diners," said Pruden. "We want to build up the expectation so that they'll be salivating for Rodrigo's food."

"We've had a great turnout and we've had a lot of familiar faces coming from the first or second ones to the third one," said Garcea. "We hope to continue to build on this."

The Redbar Lounge is located at the Starlight Casino at 350 Gifford St. in Queensborough.

ALFIE'S REDBAR DINING TIPS

The November menu for Cooking with Rodrigo is already out and it promises to be the best culinary performance yet.

The starters will be a roast pepper and mozzarella soup, followed by a shredded smoked chicken breast served with an Oriental salad.

The intermezzo will be a peach sorbet, followed by the two showcase entrees of crusted milk-fed veal and grilled filet of seabass - no truth to the rumours that Cam Neely will make a guest appearance.

The dessert is called Cheesecake Fantasy and we'll leave that to your imagination.

Tickets are $50 per person, with doors opening at 6 p.m. and dinner served at 7 p.m.

The Redbar Lounge also has a regular menu, which includes everything from liver and onions - hand up if you love liver (thought so!) - to burgers, wings and even good old winter comfort food like chicken pot pie.

"We have to be ready to make everything from a hot dog up to a filet mignon," said Fereira. "You never know what casino patrons want and when they'll want it."