What does the future hold for Book and the Cook, the annual institution is in need of new ideas.

Looking back at this year’s small event and its modest success made it clear to organizer Judy Faye that more high-profile authors and events are needed to draw attention to a collective schedule.

Of 16 scheduled dinners this year, two (with Japanese author Hiroko Shimbo at Fork and Seattle-based Tom Douglas at Twenty21) were canceled outright for lack of interest. Turnout at some others was less than expected. The last-minute, new-fall-season schedule, with only two weeks for promotion, clearly took its toll.

But there were successes: Margaret Kuo’s dinner with author and San Francisco restaurateur Cecilia Chiang grew into two events, adding a luncheon to accommodate the overflow.

New direction for Book and Cook [Philadelphia Inquirer]

The Book and Cook is happening this year, although on a smaller scale than previous years.

Restructured. Reduced. Replanted from springtime in a harvest edition, Oct. 22 through 28, that its longtime organizer, Judy Faye, hopes will take root.

By last count, 16 authors – including Jonathan Waxman, Joan Nathan, David Rosengarten and Peter Reinhart – are to appear with their cookbooks for 15 dinners at area restaurants. A few more are being discussed, and there are a few side events, but it almost surely will remain the smallest program in Book and the Cook history.

By contrast, even the first edition had 26 dinners over three days. At its height in 1999, 86 authors were on hand for nearly 100 events. For the last several years, the event had drawn about 70 authors.

This year’s event will host no food showcase, no preview gala, no beer tasting with a cast of thousands.

But it will have books and cooks. Current schedule of events after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »