'CEO Chef' cooks up a storm for Coldwell brokers. (Transcripts).

Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy real estate brokers spend the year helping their clients find a home. At holiday time, their CEO, David M. Michonski, prepared a home-cooked "international" meal for all 200 of them. Each year Michonski chooses a different country and replicates the holiday foods and traditions of that country. This year the "CEO chef" chose Sweden and prepared a gourmet dinner for their annual Holiday fete on Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. at All Soul's Church (1157 Lexington Ave.).

"I like to choose a particular country, research the holiday traditions, festivities, and foods of that country and then try to prepare an authentic holiday menu as it would be enjoyed in that country", says Michonski. Traditionally, children dress up in Sweden and present morning "Lucia buns" and coffee to their parents. This year's festivities began with the room in darkness as Santa Lucia appeared with "star boys" dressed in white with star-gazer hats and wands, all singing "Santa Lucia."

Then as 20 real potted trees were brought into the room and placed in the center of 20 dining tables, the guests clipped candies onto the trees (sprayed with flame retardant) and decorated them with traditional Swedish holiday decorations. The entire room became aglow as the candies on all 20 trees were lit to form the centerpieces for dinner. Acquavit with beer chasers enlivened the festivities as Michonski lead his guests Swedish holiday songs. It was then on to the smorgasbord!

Traditional hardbreads and cardamom bread were accompanied by Vasterbotten, Edam, and Cummin cheese. Every conceivable pickled herring was served including mustard herring and onion herring. Fruits and vegetables included beet and apple salad, cucumber salad, homemade applesauce, and Lingonberry sauce. The main courses consisted of homemade gravlax with honey mustard sauce, smoked Salmon, Swedish Christmas ham with horseradish sauce, Swedish meatballs in brown gravy, Jannssons Temptation (a potato, onion and heavy cream delight spiced with Swedish anchovies), Icelandic sweet shrimp with dill sauce and beef franks with mustard sauce.

For dessert, traditional rice pudding with an almond hidden in it was served. Tradition indicates that the person who gets the almond will also get a spouse. 'Ginger cookies, apple cake with creme Anglais and ice cream were complemented by assorted Swedish chocolates. Throughout the event Glogg, a kind of holiday Wassail, kept a holiday glow. Michonski began this international cooking tradition almost a decade ago while managing the Greenwich office of Coldwell Banker. His cooking was such a success, he's been in demand ever since. He learned to cook as a means of puffing himself through college some 30 years ago at Colgate University and now finds it a relaxing way to spend his free time, even for 200 "family" members.