Fat is flavor.

Big time.

How often have you heard chefs equate fatty goodness with deeply developed, satiating flavor?

Countless, I’m sure.

This simple recipe for “Crispy Chicken Thighs with Olives, Lemon and Fennel” from “Ad Hoc at Home” (Artisan) by Chef Thomas Keller is a prime example of just why they espouse that.

Chicken thighs get seared golden brown in a pan, then removed to a cooling rack. Peer into the pan and you’ll see a small pond of glistening, rendered liquid fat at the bottom.

Don’t be afraid.

Healthful, gym-rat me was tempted to pour out that fat, while good food-loving me was smacking my lips at the lusciousness pooling in the pan. In the end, the latter me won out, especially because Keller makes no mention in the recipe of cleaning out the pan before proceeding with the rest of the directions.

For good reason.

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Think if U2 and Coldplay teamed up for one night — and one night only — for a special benefit concert.

This is the culinary equivalent with celebrated Bay Area rock-star chefs Daniel Patterson of Coi in San Francisco and David Kinch of Manresa joining together for one night, Feb. 8, to cook a sumptuous seven-course feast to benefit the Bocuse d’Or USA Foundation.

At this unique event, which will take place at Coi, Patterson and Kinch will alternate cooking savory courses, and Coi’s Pastry Chef Bill Corbett will do the honors with dessert. Look for such wondrous treats for the eye and palate as Patterson’s “Winter Pastoral” (young carrots roasted on a bed of hay, radish powder, and shaved Pecorino); and Kinch’s “Crispy Chicken and Egg Confit” (with roasted chicken “dashi” and black truffles).

Poultry from Vacaville’s Soul Food Farm will be highlighted in the dinner to celebrate the legacy of American heritage breed poultry.

Price is $195 per person, with a wine pairing available at an extra charge. For reservations, call (415) 393-9000.

For 20 years, the United States has fielded a team for the Bocuse d’Or, the prestigious Olympics of cooking. But it wasn’t until recently that the country got serious about it, when superstar chefs Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller formed the US foundation to support and train the candidate who would represent this country. Their first candidate was French Laundry Chef de Cuisine Timothy Hollingsworth, who finished sixth out of 24 teams in last year’s competition.

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Some people like to look back at the year to ponder, scrutinize and revel in their accomplishments.

I like to look back at the year to relive moments in time that I can’t forget because, well, they just tasted so darned good.

Yes, here’s my list of the top 10 dishes I had in 2009.

Oh, it was hard to narrow it down to just 10, believe me. I hemmed and hawed about which would make the cut and which wouldn’t because there were so many bites over the past 12 months that I truly savored.

In the end, I decided to limit it to the meals I ate out, rather than cooked at home. The dishes that made the list were ones that I still savor in my memory, again and again. They’re ones that I would rush out to eat once more in a heart beat. They are — in a word — unforgettable.

Here they are, in no particular order:

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Yes, the French Laundry is the only Michelin three-star restaurant in California, and one of the hardest reservations in the country to snag.

But did you know that the tres elegant Yountville restaurant sure knows how to throw one heck of a holiday party, too?

This past Sunday afternoon under gray, threatening skies, the stone building was aglow with candles, a roaring fireplace, and gleaming white tents for its annual holiday party. Yours truly was among the throngs who gathered to enjoy the festivities.

Chef-proprietor Thomas Keller cheerfully greeted guests. Keller may be fond of Prada boots, but he donned some rather uncharacteristic footwear that afternoon that one couldn’t help but notice — real-deal red clogs.

Me to Keller: “Are you pulling a Mario Batali?”

Keller quipped back: “Don’t say that. Don’t say that. Mario’s are orange and plastic. These are leather and wood. A chef has to uphold standards.”

Fun was definitely in the air on Sunday. If you’re used to the serene environment of the French Laundry, this was noisy, crowded and oh-so casual. It was fun to see cooks who normally turn out exquisite “Oysters and Pearls” instead creating fluffs of pink cotton candy and truffled popcorn.

The signature salmon cornets that usually precede every dinner at the French Laundry were in attendance on Sunday, but in miniature form.

Mini versions of Bouchon Bakery’s Nutter Butter cookies and chocolate snowman cupcakes also could be found all over the restaurant, including some set around an old-fashioned gingerbread house display.

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Enjoying nibbles of the fabled fried chicken and perfect little meatballs, a throng queued up happily at Ad Hoc restaurant in Yountville on Saturday morning.

They were there for Chef Thomas Keller’s signing of his best-selling “Ad Hoc at Home” (Artisan) cookbook. The invitation-only event was for “friends and family” of the restaurant. And yours truly was lucky enough to be one of the guests.

Keller, looking dapper in a sports coat, sat at a back table with Ad Hoc Chef de Cuisine Dave Cruz, as both took turns signing each book.

Keller’s always had an uncanny ability for nailing all the little details. The book signing was no different, as a hostess actually took the time to announce the name of each guest to Keller as he or she stepped up to the table to greet the world famous chef, who signed each book with a script as stylish in form as calligraphy.

Cruz, who was born in the Philippines, chatted with me about how he only came to cooking nine years ago. Prior to that, he worked the front of the house instead. And before that, he was an engineering student — a field no stranger to anyone raised by an Asian parent, we both chuckled.

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