Celebrity Book Signings & NRA Show Bookstore

Meet the People Who Drive the Trends

Celebrity book signings will enable you to interact with top trendsetters for one-on-one tips and inspiration. NRA Show 2008 will also feature a bookstore providing a wide range of titles to help inspire and inform your entire team.

• Book Signings: McCormick Place's Grand Concourse
• NRA Show Bookstore: North Building Mezzanine
• National Restaurant Association News Release: Celebrity Book Signings Schedule Announced
• Watch a video featuring last year's celebrities at the Show

Other celebrities may be added to the schedule below. Check back here for updates. View entire Show Schedule at a Glance.

Craig Priebe – Chef and owner of CK's Grilled Pizza near Atlanta, Ga., Priebe is a pioneer in pizza-making with his wood-grilling technique. He is the winner of several awards, including from the American Culinary Federation, for his unique pizza recipes. His new book Grilled Pizzas & Piadinas will be available at the 2008 Show.

Art Smith – A contributing editor to O, the Oprah Magazine and Oprah.com, Smith has appeared several times on The Oprah Winfrey Show and is featured regularly on television programs, including NBC's Today. He also serves as a regular tasting judge on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America. Available at the Show will be Back to the Family: Food Tastes Better Shared with the Ones You Love, which features recipes that stress the importance of recognizing old food traditions while creating new and healthy new ones, and Back to the Table: The Reunion of Food and Family.

Grady Spears – This native Texas cowboy-turned-chef has created signature cowboy cuisine for his restaurants in Fort Worth and Beverly Hills, and has cooked for President George W. Bush. He has also been a guest of the Food Network and ABC's Good Morning America. His fourth book, Texas Cowboy Kitchen, will be available at the Show.

Mario Batali – As the creator of a thriving restaurant empire, Batali has established himself as a top restaurateur with seven New York City hot spots and new restaurants in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The author of the James Beard Award-winning Molto Italiano and four other cookbooks, Batali appears regularly on television. Available at the Show will be his latest book Italian Grill, the ultimate handbook on Italian grilling, and takes the mystery out of making tasty, simple, smoky Italian food.

Robert St. John – Executive chef and owner of the Purple Parrot Café, Crescent City Grill, and Mahogany Bar in Hattiesburg and Meridian, Miss., St. John is on the sharp side of the cutting edge of Southern fare. As an author, he has published five books and writes a weekly syndicated food column. He is one of the nation's only food/humor columnists. His new book New South Grilling, which features fresh and exciting recipes from the third coast, will be available at the 2008 Show.

Govind Armstrong – Starting his restaurant career at the age of 13, Armstrong has since honed his skills with some of the world's top chefs. He is now chef of Table 8 in Los Angeles. Armstrong's first book - Small Bites, Big Nights: Seductive Little Plates for Intimate Occasions and Lavish Parties - will be available at the 2008 Show.

Sara Foster – Caterer and former chef for Martha Stewart, Foster is one of the country’s most respected experts on simple food prepared with fresh, local and seasonal ingredients. Foster has been featured in many publications including the New York Times, and Bon Appetit, and television shows including NBC’s Today. She is founder and owner of Foster's Markets, two cafe takeout shops in Durham and Chapel Hill, N.C. Two of Foster's books - Foster's Market Cookbook, and Sara Foster's Casual Cooking: More Fresh Recipes from Foster's Market - will be available at the 2008 Show.

Charlie Ayers – As the executive chef for Google Inc., Ayers gained a reputation for innovative, flavorful, and healthful foods that are good not only for you but also good for the planet. Currently, he is developing a new restaurant concept, Calafia Café & Market a Go Go, to provide the greater public with healthful, artisan-style, sustainable cuisine in a fast and affordable format. Food 2.0: Secrets from the Chef who fed Google will be available at the 2008 Show. Chef Ayers will also be presenting a demonstration in the NRA Show Culinary Scene area on Sunday, May 18 at 1:00 p.m.

Rick Tramonto – The executive chef and partner of Osteria di Tramonto, Tramonto's Steak & Seafood, RT Lounge, and Tru, Rick Tramonto has garnered international attention and a host of prestigious awards for his work. Tramonto has a history of television work, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, NBC's Today, CBS's This Morning and the Food Network. Tramonto's new book Fantastico! Little Italian Plates and Antipasti from Rick Tramonto's Kitchen will be available at the 2008 Show.

Pino Luongo and Mark Strausman – Friends and restaurateurs in Manhattan, Luongo and Strausman are co-owners of Coco Pazzo. They put a personal spin on the divide between cuisine from Italy and the American variety in their fifth cookbook Two Meatballs in the Italian Kitchen, which will be available at the 2008 Show.

Rick Bayless – An award-winning chef/restaurateur, cookbook author, and television personality, Bayless has done more than any other culinary star to introduce Americans to authentic Mexican cuisine and to change the image of Mexican food in America. Host of Mexico—One Plate at a Time on PBS, he owns and operates two of Chicago's hottest dining spots, Frontera Grill and Tobolobampo. Bayless' books - Authentic Mexican: Regional Cooking from the Heart of Mexico and Mexican Everyday will be available at the 2008 Show. Chef Bayless will also be presenting a demonstration in the NRA Show Culinary Scene area on Monday, May 19 at 10:00 a.m.

Tony and Cathy Mantuano – Chef-partners of Spiaggia in Chicago, the couple's second book Wine Bar Food: Mediterranean flavors to crave with wine to match shares their delightful versions of wine bar recipes from across the Mediterranean and will be available at the 2008 Show.

Chris Schlesinger and John "Doc" Willoughby – Schlesinger is the chef/owner of East Coast Grill and All-Star Sandwich Bar in Cambridge, Mass., and a James Beard Foundation Award winner. Willoughby is the executive editor of Gourmet , a former editor of Cook’s Illustrated, and a regular contributor to a wide range of national magazines, PBS and National Public Radio. Collaborators on nine cookbooks, Schlesinger and Willoughby are renowned for mixing good food with wit and clarity. Their latest book Grill It will be available at the Show.

Cheryl and Bill Jamison – Authors of more than a dozen cookbooks and travel guides, the Jamisons appear regularly on television and are frequent contributors to publications such as Cooking Light and Bon Appetit. Their latest book Around the World in 80 Dinners: The Ultimate Culinary Adventure will be available at the 2008 Show.

Ellie Krieger – Ellie is a chef, author, registered dietician and host of the popular television show Healthy Appetite on the Food Network. She is also a regular contributor to People and Parenting, and has appeared as a guest expert on dozens of programs, including NBC's Today and CBS's Saturday Early Show. Krieger's second book - The Food You Crave: Luscious recipes for a healthy life - will be available at the 2008 Show.

Gale Gand – The executive pasty chef and partner of the acclaimed restaurant Tru in Chicago, Gand is the host of the Food Network's Sweet Dreams, the network's first daily show devoted entirely to baking. Gand was named Outstanding Pastry Chef of the Year by the James Beard Foundation in 2001, and has her own retail line. Gand's book Chocolate & Vanilla will be available at the 2008 Show.

The Celebrity Book Signing & NRA Show Bookstore are produced in cooperation with The Book Stall at Chestnut Court, the Chicago area's finest independent bookstore. Authors and book titles are subject to change.

Questions? Please e-mail the NRA Show Convention Office at nraregistration@restaurant.org (to attend NRA Show 2008) or nraexhibitinfo@restaurant.org (to exhibit at NRA Show 2008) or call (312) 853-2525.