March 9, 2006 Issue                                               

©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Dine with your favorite cookbook author at B & C
by LEN LEAR

Restaurant entrepreneur Michael Wei stands in front of a spectacular glass engraving at Cin Cin in Chestnut Hill. Wei will be hosting a Book and Cook dinner at another of his restaurants, Yangming in Bryn Mawr, on March 23

The upcoming 22nd annual Book and Cook Food Festival in the Philadelphia area will feature dozens of the nation’s finest food and cookbook authors. This unique Philadelphia event enables those of us who admire certain writers (or enjoy seeing them prepare dishes on the many TV cooking shows) to meet them in person and have them autograph books and to enjoy meals at top local restaurants in which all dishes were prepared from their recipes. Sheer heaven for someone who has labored exhaustively to master those same dishes in his/her own kitchen.

There will be 67 dining events, mostly at area restaurants, from March 17 to 26, including several in which certain wines or beers are paired with each course. There will also be cooking demonstrations, food tours of the Reading Terminal Market and Italian Market; the “Taste of the Avenue,” a festival involving many restaurants and food retailers along South Philly’s Passyunk Avenue; and the 2006 Culinary Market and Kitchen Showcase, formerly known as the Book and Cook Fair.

The latter event, which will be held March 24-26 at the Fort Washington Expo, seems to get more crowded every year; there are often very long lines to taste food samples or get cookbooks signed by the authors. There are also cooking demonstrations by the cookbook authors as well as new food and kitchenware products from more than 150 vendors.

Reservations for the restaurant events should be made soon because most sell out. It would be impossible for me to discuss every one of the 67 dining events in this space, of course, but based on my own coverage of The Book and The Cook over the past 21 years, I have no hesitation in recommending the following dinners:

•John Shields, author of Coastal Cooking with John Shields, owner of Gertrude’s in Baltimore and host of a PBS-TV series with the same name as his latest book, will employ seafood recipes he has picked up in waterways all over the country. On March 17 at the Joseph Ambler Inn in North Wales ($75 plus $18 for optional wine pairings, 215-362-7500).

The appearance of TV chef Rick Bayless, known as “The Godfather of modern Mexican cuisine,” and his daughter, Lanie, produced 300 reservations at El Vez, 121 S. 13th St., during The Book and The Cook dinner last March. Rick will make an encore appearance on March 26. (Photos by Len Lear)

•Rick Bayless, co-author of Rick & Lanie’s Excellent Kitchen Adventures: Recipes and Stories, host of the PBS-TV series, Mexico, One Plate at a Time, and chef/owner of Chicago’s Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, at El Vez, 121-127 S. 13th St., on March 26 (about $50 per person, 215-928-9800).

•Joanne Weir, host of PBS-TV’s Weir Cooking in the City and author of From Tapas to Meze, will feature a salute to the “small plates” of Tuscany at Alison at Blue Bell, the hugely successful BYOB of chef/owner Alison Barshak, former executive chef at Striped Bass. At 721 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell on March 19 (about $75 per person, 215-641-2660.)

•Roberto Donna, author of Cooking in Piedmont with Roberto Donna and owner of seven Washington, D.C., restaurants, including Galileo, one of the nation’s top Italian restaurants, will explore the authentic flavors of Italy’s Piedmontese region with chef Rosario Romano at Panorama Ristorante, 14 N. Front St., owned by the prolific Sena family, on March 21 ($75 per person, 215-922-7800).

•Dr. Alan Hirsch, a medical researcher and psychiatrist, is the author of What’s Your Food Sign?, which explores what food preferences reveal about personalities. He will be analyzing the food choices of those who attend the dinner he hosts on March 22 at Liberties, the authentically restored tavern at 705 N. 2nd St. (About $50 per person, 215-238-0660.)

•Grace Young, author of The Breath of a Wok, is the Test Kitchen Director for Time-Life Books who has brought more than 40 cookbooks to publication. Also the recipient of the 2005 World Food Media Award and a frequent guest of TV cooking shows, Young will explore the relationship between culture and food at Yangming, Conestoga and Haverford Roads in Bryn Mawr, on March 23 ($50 per person, 610-527-3200).

•James Waller is the author of Drinkology Wine: A Guide to the Grape, a guide to help the novice wine drinker increase knowledge and gain confidence in his/her wine-buying decisions. He’ll join owner John Taxin and chef David Cunningham in a March 24 wine dinner at Old Original Bookbinder’s, 125 Walnut St. ($65 per person includes wines, 215-925-7027).

•Nick Malgieri is the multi-award-winning author of A Baker’s Tour and Director of Baking Programs at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. He will co-host a dinner on March 24 at Penne, 3611 Walnut St., with executive chef Roberta Adamo, who makes handmade pastas in an open kitchen, and he will be given the 2006 Philadelphia Toque Award for lifetime career accomplishments. (About $50 per person, 215-823-6222.)

For more information about any Book and Cook event or to see a listing of all events, call 1-888-742-1336 or visit www.thebookandthecook.com