David Chang had us at duck and oranges. When the chef talked about foraging citrus tree leaves for a futuristic roasted bird on his Netflix show Dinner Time Live before the holidays, we looked at each other and smiled.

This was during the proverbial calm before the storm. Ripening fruit filled the towering navel orange tree in our backyard. Roast duck is one of Guillaume’s specialties. All the ingredients were straightforward and this seemed just right for a small, cozy Christmas dinner.

But we didn’t have a recipe, just the official blog post where Dave described generally what he planned to make — and clearly had to change at the last moment. This is how I found myself scrutinizing the video replay over and over, trying to decipher a wine bottle label and gas flame height.