With restaurants stationed everywhere from Southern California to D.C., James Beard award-winning restaurateur Chef Michael Mina is a true expert when it comes to coastal cuisine. Next week, he’ll be paying a visit to his Charm City brainchild for a special event highlighting his take on regional dishes.

Wit & Wisdom‘s executive chef Zack Mills will work side-by-side with his mentor Mina to prepare an “East Meets West Dinner” on Wednesday March 25 at 6:30 p.m.

The concept for the meal’s five-course tasting menu stems from the chefs’ collaborative idea to present the versatility of preparing regional delicacies. Both an East Coast and a West Coast-inspired take on one specific ingredient will be featured in each course.

“Chef [Mina] and I talked about the menu a good bit,” Mills says. “We bounced back and forth about products synonymous with each area and what matched up closely enough with our general idea, and, from there, we built the menu as seasonally as possible.”

Examples of the contrasting dishes include a Chesapeake oyster with Bloody Mary Granita served next to a Hog Island oyster with white soy and tangerine, Maryland rockfish served alongside pacific halibut, and a blue crab cake with Old Bay puree served with Monterey red abalone (edible sea snails native to California.) Red and white wine pairings will also accompany each of the tasting menu’s courses.

Mills, who began working for the Mina Group in 2012 as a sous-chef, says that the entire Wit & Wisdom team has been very fortunate to be able to work with Chef Mina so closely.

“I tell people all the time ‘You get smarter just by watching him work and listening to him talk,'” Mills says.

Michael Mina: The Cookbook will also be available for purchase at the event, and Chef Mina will be on hand to personally sign copies for all attendees. If you can’t make it to the East Meets West Dinner, Chef Mina will be sticking around his Charm City tavern on Thursday March 26 for any other guests interested in meeting him.

Tickets for the event can be purchased
here.