[chef] how to set up cluster that has dependencies?

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Chef folks,

I have a question concerning the best way to use Chef to set up a cluster of
nodes that have dependencies on one another. (Apologies in advance if this is 
a
naïve question, but I’m new to Chef.)

For concreteness, suppose I want node  V  to run varnish, node T to run 
tomcat,
and node  M to run mongo.  And let’s say that T needs to know the IP address
of M, and V needs to know the IP address of T.  I believe  that each node can
register its IP address in a database maintained on the Chef server, and
recipes run by each node can query this database.  For things to work 
properly,
I ought to set up M first, then T, and finally V.  

My question is this: How I should plan to use Chef so that the setup of 
various
nodes happens in the right order?  Do  I write a recipe that sets up M first,
then T, and finally V?   If so, then what is that recipe associated to?  Or
should I instead have a recipe for V that sets up T, and also  have the setup
recipe for T begin by setting up M?  Or should I write recipes for T, M, and V
that query the database, and don’t do anything unless they can find the IP
addresses they need?

Jeff