Photos courtesy The Boulders Resort

Not sure what salad suits you? An expert astrologer and master chef are making dining out easier by asking, “what’s your sign?”

Wine-pairing dinners are nothing new, but zodiac-pairing dinners?

Thanks to gastrological dinners at The Boulders Resort & Golden Door Spa, the question, “What’s your sign?” may become just as popular at the table as, “Would you like fresh ground pepper on your salad?”

While living in London, Boulders Managing Director Michael Hoffmann attended dinners based on “the seasonality and preferences of the astrological sign.”

“I specifically remember the Gemini dinner that I did,” he recalls. “Geminis are very tactile in their behavior pattern.”

So, for the Geminis, the chef there created foods that made diners use their hands. They built Vietnamese spring rolls and dipped fish and chips into vinegar and sauces.

Hoffmann approached Boulders Executive Chef Michel Pieton with the concept. Pieton consulted with astrologer Tom McMullan of Scottsdale, and the resort first tried the idea last June for the spring solstice.

For the fall equinox in September, Pieton used earthier, richer ingredients that fall and winter signs would enjoy, such as butternut squash soup with Bosc pear, grilled quail with grapes, seared Mediterranean sea bass with celery root puree, and beef tenderloin marinated in molasses and black pepper.

Dishes are paired with organic, often biodynamic wines. On January 24, the dinner will feature King Estate Winery, and on February 28, it will spotlight Long Meadow Ranch Vineyards.

And instead of an informative, educational (and dare we say dry?) talk by a wine expert, the dinners come with an introduction to astrology by McMullan.

“We can all say, ‘I am this [sign],’ and yet we don’t know that much about it,” he says.

McMullan details characteristics of zodiac signs and discusses their compatibility. It doesn’t necessarily mean two people are doomed if one is a fire sign and one is a water sign. Instead, it’s a good way for partners to understand each other, he explains.

McMullan has worked with celebrities such as Regis Philbin and Robert Downey Jr., and he says he takes his career seriously. But he’s also a part-time stand-up comedian and is committed to making even the skeptics have fun with astrology.

Ricky Young of Chandler attended the fall dinner but says he’s no astrology buff. Still, he says, McMullan was entertaining and made him think about his and his wife’s signs (he’s a Leo, she’s a Scorpio).

“He was really on point, and it makes you go, ‘wow,’” Young says. “I look at [my horoscope] more after listening to this guy.”

Dinners are served in the Golden Door Spa Café, but Hoffmann hopes to move them to the resort’s 5,280-square-foot organic garden when the weather allows. Seating is capped at 20. Cost is $150 per person.

For more information on gastrological dinners at The Boulders, call 480-488-9009 or visit theboulders.com.