The mis en place for this dish takes time, but the cooking and plating are very simple. The flavors are quite varied but work well together. The sweetness of the scallops pairs well with the acidity of the tomato, while the subtle flavoring of the celeriac and fennel add a bit of complexity.

1. Peel tough outer skin off celeriac. Rough chop and cook a l'anglaise, until tender. Then shock in an icebath. Dry and set aside.
2. Peel potatoes and place into a pot filled with cold salted water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender. Dry and set aside.
3. Pour cream into a sautoir and bring to a boil. Combine celeriac, potato and cream into a robot coup or Cuisinart. Add cold butter. Season with salt to taste. Puree until smooth, then pass through a tamis. (Consistency should be thick enough to hold its form if spooned into a ring mold.) Set aside in a large bowl, covered in plastic wrap over a bain marie.

1. Bring fish fumet to a boil. Meanwhile, pour one ladle of the fumet into a sauteuse and cook shrimp shells until bright pink, ~3-4 minutes. Strain and add infused liquid to the fumet. Keep warm in a bain marie.
2. Cold smoke scallops, placing wet wood chips over white hot coals. If using a stove top smoker, smoke until a think whisp of smoke escapes lid. Turn off heat and let sit for ~10 minutes. Set aside.
3. Emonder tomatoes, peeling skin only 2/3 so that petals appear at the base, similar to a gooseberry. Submerge in olive oil, mixed with finely chopped tarragon and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Allow to infuse for 1 hour.
4. On a grill, lightly roast corn. Cut away kernels and set aside.
5. Peel ginger and brunoise. Place in pot of boiling water and cook until translucent.
6. Cook haricot verts a l'anglaise. French, snipping ends on the bias and slicing in half vertically. Shock in an ice bath and reserve.
7. Slice carrots on mandoline, 2mm thick. At each end, make a small vertical incision, so that carrots ends can interlock to form a circle. Cook a l'anglaise and reserve. The carrot will form a lining on the inside of the ring mold so that the puree won't cloud the consommé.
8. Slice fennel bulb vertically, using a mandoline. Dredge with Wondra flour, mixed with salt and pepper. Deep fry at 350°F until golden. Dry on baking sheet lined with paper towel.
9. Sear scallops in a hot sautoir with a thin coating of neutral-flavored oil.
10. Reheat haricot verts, a l'etuve.

1. To plate, place ring mold in center of bowl and line inside with carrot. Fill with celeriac-potato puree and remove ring.
2. Place four scallops atop puree base.
3. Top scallops with a small cluster of pea shoots, coated lightly with vinaigrette. Sprinkle shoots with a few pieces of brunoise ginger and garnish with 2-3 slices of fried fennel.
4. Remove tomatoes from tarragon oil. Scatter tomatoes, corn and haricot verts around periphery of bowl.
5. Gently ladle consommé around puree and sprinkle with fresh chives.

The first time I really noticed fish served in broth was when I was busy plating 300 potions of it in the Lincoln Center. I was working for a somewhat disreputable catering company, preparing a sit-down dinner benefiting the School of American Ballet. At the time, we had no electricity (one power generator and floodlight), no water (had to hustle to the men's room to fill stock pots) and no kitchen (6-foot proofs and some extremely flammable Sterno). Although I was eager to know how the fish was prepared, we were somewhat distracted by the combustible Sterno pots, and spent much of the fourth-course service dousing out flames in the sous chef's pants. Nonetheless, as I sat in the taxi-ride home, the smell of acrid polyester lingering in my hair, I made a mental note to try my own version of this dish.

The cherry tomatoes are a variation of a Jacques Pepin recipe for Tomato Petals Infused with Tarragon Oil. Rather than roast the tomatoes, I've chosen to emonder them, and then partially peel the skin to mimic gooseberries.

Fennel-potato puree is an ideal base for the scallops and vegetable garnish, but I was faced with the problem of clouding the consommé. The carrot "liner" was a solution suggested by Chef Dominick. By lining the ring mold, the carrot acts as a barrier, separating the soft vegetable puree from the consommé.

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