“Elegant.” That was a word that kept making its way into a conversation during an event at The World is Mine Oyster in Boothbay Harbor one recent June evening.

Chef Stephen Richards, the 2014 Maine Lobster Chef of the Year, was preparing and serving a  series of lobster dishes to me and four food-loving friends. Each dish was accompanied by wine chosen and served by sommelier Mark Guerin.

Guerin said his goal in pairing a particular wine with a dish is to achieve “a seamless transition. I want them both to elevate each other.”

His job that evening was a little more difficult than usual. Normally he would taste the food, then pair the flavors with a type of wine. But the dishes being served had never been tried or tasted before.

Richards was using the unsuspecting diners as proverbial guinea pigs. While we were being educated about wines by Guerin, Richards was in the kitchen whipping up four different lobster dishes — all firsts for him, or anyone.

Richards had come up with the idea for the event by “looking into the future.”

The chef will be entering four cooking contests over the course of the next five months: Maine Taste the Nation in Cape Elizabeth on June 28; Claw Down in East Boothbay on Sept. 17; Boston Food Wars on Sept. 20; and Harvest on the Harbor in Portland on Oct. 21.

His plan was to try out four untested recipes and get feedback to help in his final decisions for his lobster dishes, or bites, to enter into the contests.

The first dish of the evening was a lobster, mango and avocado poke with tumbleweed daikon radish, dashi and wakame seaweed. Nestled beneath was a golden crispy rice cake. It was artfully arranged in an over-sized martini shaped vessel, and served with a St. Supery Moscato.

“We're going for a flavor explosion here,” Richards said. “I hope you like it.”

We liked it. A lot.

Richards came out after everyone had polished off their dishes, and asked for thoughts. All agreed that the delicious melding of flavors, along with the generous chunks of sweet lobster meat and the crunch of the crispy rice cake was a perfect first course.

Next up was a tempura-style lobster mascarpone stuffed zucchini boy blossom with a truffle sweet pea guacamole, fuchsia sprouts, Meyer lemon crème and oak roasted sunflower seeds. Five more thumbs up. It was a study in beautiful food art, and it was mouth-wateringly scrumptious. It was accompanied by a St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc.

The third course, served with a moscato wine, was sweet and sour smoked Maine lobster claw, miso kimchi wonton stuffed with curry-kissed pine nuts, galangal crèma and green mango kaffir lime leaf jam.

As beautifully presented and equally yummy as the first two, most agreed that this dish was just a bit too sweet. Richards appreciated the constructive criticism and took it in stride, deciding to eliminate the sweet and sour sauce next time.

By the time Richards served the fourth course, in all its artistic beauty, the dinner guests were feeling pampered and satiated. But not too satiated to savor the wood roasted Maine lobster gougères layered with pink peppercorn spiked Sunset Acres goat cheese mousse, maple cranberry compote, sweet and salty pine nut brittle and a brown butter crème fleurette. This dish was accompanied by a White Bordeaux blend.

At this point most diners would probably forgo dessert. But when the elegantly presented plates, described by Richards as “a study in chocolate truffles,” were placed on the table, no one demurred.

There were three different flavored, fresh made chocolate truffles, each nestled in its own fluffy cloud of Baileys Irish Cream whipped cream, with dribbles of a salted Southern Comfort butterscotch sauce. There was a total of five different liqueurs used in the making.

“I love booze with dessert,” Richards said. “This is some fun eating. I hope you like it.”

All were devoured, and there were smiles and sighs all around.

It's not easy to come up with words to describe Richards' artful, mouth-watering creations, but two that keep coming to mind are exquisite and elegant.

Richards said he will continue to test new lobster recipes before making the final decisions on his entries in the upcoming contest events.

“I found that some work and some don’t,” he said. “When you’re doing a competition like Claw Down in Boothbay Harbor, you need to choose ingredients carefully. You want neutral flavors. There are nut allergies, and not everyone likes goat cheese.”