Sitting down in the salon of Rogue 24 before my inaugural Rogue Session with Bryan Voltaggio, the strains of a rocked out cover of the Smiths’ “There is a Light That Never Goes Out” drift over; “To die by your side/Well the pleasure, the privilege is mine.” Considering that I’m about to embark on a once-in-a-lifetime journey, it’s a fitting opening couplet.

Looking into the dining room beyond is like a peek into a heavenly otherworld. A gauzy curtain separates the central space, where floating orbs of light softly illuminate the proceedings. The house is packed tonight — the whole week sold out in a flash — so culinary team and the servers have their work cut out for them.

These Rogue Sessions came about after chef-owner RJ Cooper was diagnosed with a life threatening heart defect that required immediate and extensive surgery that would keep him out of the kitchen for several months. So, he started calling culinary colleagues to see if they could take over his duties while he was away. Ultimately, ten chefs stepped up to helm the burners — with Bryan Voltaggio kicking things off. Weekly emails from Gilt City DC reveal who is coming in next for 24 rounds. Each chef in this impressive lineup will be cooking for 50 people a night for just five days, so scoring a seat will be challenge. The only way to get tickets is through Gilt City DC and the reservations themselves are then handled by CityEats.

The menu is divided into twelve dishes from the visiting chef’s recipe collection and a dozen culled from RJ Cooper’s arsenal. Menus aren’t revealed in advance, though, so you don’t know just what will happen until you sit down. By the look of the focused flurry around the center stage kitchen, it looks like Voltaggio is pulling out all the stops. No matter what, I’m sure that the pleasure and the privilege will be mine.

Get the bite by bite breakdown by clicking over to CityEats’ Plate blog now.