(A public preview of the event – TASTE OF THE FESTIVAL – will showcase tastings of the participating restaurants’ menus on Wednesday evening, March 21, 2001, at Loew’s Hotel, 12^th & Market Sts. $50/person)

Dates/Hours: Friday, March 30, 2001 – 5 to 9 p.m.

Saturday, March 31, 2001 – 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Sunday, April 1, 2001 – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tickets: $15 for adults; #12 for children under 12; children under 3 free (Group tickets: $12 per person per day, for

groups of 20 or more – call 215-592-6621)

The Book and The Cook Festival was established by the City of Philadelphia in 1985 to promote Philadelphia’s burgeoning fine dining establishments. In the ensuing 16 years, it has grown to a ten-day celebration of fine dining in all its forms, involving more than 80 of the world’s favorite cookbook authors, paired with a like number of Philadelphia and suburban restaurants to produce unique meals created in partnership by the author and restaurateur/chef. Guests have the opportunity to meet the author at these dining events and have their latest books signed. Reservations for these one-of-a-kind prix fixe brunches, luncheons, and dinners – whose prices range from $25 to over $75 a person – are made directly with the participating restaurants.

The Book and The Cook Fair is a 2 ½ -day expo that has become the country’s largest consumer culinary fair since its inception eleven years ago. Cooking demonstrations, over 150 exhibitors, thousands of cookbooks for purchase, book signings, and more help visitors to the Fair expand their knowledge of state-of-the-art food preparation and presentation. Tickets can be purchased in advance through all Ticketmaster outlets after December 15, 2000; or during show hours at the Pennsylvania Convention Center box-office.

THE BOOK AND THE COOK is a public/private collaborative program, produced by the Center City Proprietors Foundation of Philadelphia, in conjunction with the Office of the City Representative of the City of Philadelphia.

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(For restaurant and author participation, contact Judy Faye, Executive Producer – 215-545-5353; for Fair exhibitor information, contact: Michelle Craig, 215-592-6664; for media information, contact Phyllis Polk, Public Relations Director – 215-683-2065.)

September 10, 2000

Throughout their decade-and-a-half participation in Philadelphia’s THE BOOK AND THE COOK ® FESTIVAL, many of the finest of this city’s restaurants have showcased Pennsylvania’s farm products on their menus, introducing their collaborating cookbook authors (a number of whom are themselves restaurateurs and chefs) to these exceptional raw products.

Continuing this focus on Pennsylvania agricultural products, this fall THE BOOK AND THE COOK will produce the first spin-off program in its sixteen-year history – "PENNSYLVANIA PREFERRED AT PHILADELPHIA RESTAURANTS!" - taking place at a number of the city’s finest restaurants for luncheons and dinners on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 6 through 8, 2000, with special menus featuring fruits, vegetables, meats, poultry, and fish grown and raised throughout the state.

Bringing this harvest bounty home, "PENNSYLVANIA PREFERRED AT PHILADELPHIA’S READING TERMINAL MARKET!" will take place on Saturday, October 7, 2000, featuring special cooking demonstrations as well as exhibits on cheese-making and aquaculture by Pennsylvania providers. The American Dairy Association/Dairy Council Middle Atlantic will join in the festivities with "Perfection in a Basket" picnic baskets, offering ideas to Market customers to create unusual fall picnics with cheeses, fruits, sausages, bread, and wines – again, all made in Pennsylvania and available at the Reading Terminal Market. Lucky participants will win special "Perfection in a Basket" arrangements assembled by some of Philadelphia’s creative chefs.

During the 16^th edition of THE BOOK AND THE COOK FESTIVAL in March, 2000, a formal program, PENNSYLVANIA PREFERRED™, created by Judy Faye, Executive Producer, and Drew Keegan, Associate Producer, of the Festival, was introduced in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

It included an elegant PENNSYLVANIA PREFERRED dinner which showcased the products of Pennsylvania’s farms to an audience of local and visiting chefs, food writers, and cookbook authors, plus a forum where important information on the demand for, and availability of, Pennsylvania agricultural produces for the fine dining table, whether at home or in the restaurant, was shared. The forum brought together Pennsylvania growers and food distributors with Philadelphia’s chefs and THE BOOK AND THE COOK FESTIVAL’s collaborating visiting chefs and cookbook authors, as well as with buyers for specialty markets.

"Over the past sixteen years," Ms. Faye said, "as THE BOOK AND THE COOK has grown, we have seen a very special relationship develop between our participating restaurateurs and Pennsylvania food producers, which a number of our partnering cookbook authors/chefs have been quick to pick up upon.

"After having been exposed to such superb foods as lamb from Jamison Farms, prime beef and specialty vegetables from Stauffer Farms, smoked trout and fresh fish from Pocono Mountains Fish & Seafood, tree fruits and berries from S-Berry Farm, and the award-winning wines of Chaddsford Winery, these visiting chefs have gone home to their own restaurants in cities across the country and added these products to their purchasing lists.

"We are delighted to be able to expand our PENNSYLVANIA PREFERRED program to the general public this fall by putting together this special program in our wonderful restaurants and in the Reading Terminal Market.

"It is our aim with PENNSYLVANIA PREFERRED to continue to broaden the opportunities for Pennsylvania growers to meet the buyers and influencers in attendance at THE BOOK AND THE COOK in 2001," she continued. "We anticipate providing technical support to develop methods that assist growers, restaurateurs, and specialty retailers in the distribution of Pennsylvania agriculture; and we will be working with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to develop brand identity for specialty products raised on Pennsylvania farms, so as to expand the Agriculture Department’s own ‘Pennsylvania Produce Simply Delicious’ efforts."

PENNSYLVANIA PREFERRED is supported by the Matching Grant Program of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Pennsylvania growers, restaurateurs, and the Center City Proprietors Foundation.

THE BOOK AND THE COOK is a public/private collaborative program, jointly produced by the Center City Proprietors Foundation of Philadelphia, in conjunction with the Office of the City Representative of the City of Philadelphia.