On any given day, Food Network TV personality Marc Silverstein can have close encounters with Texas barbecue, New York bagels and Britney Spears. You can ask the co-host of the cable series "The Best Of" about all three at several events in the area this Sunday.
Silverstein, a 1977 Concord High School graduate who grew up in Chalfonte, will be signing copies of his new cookbook "Food Network Best of The Best Of" (HP Books, $17.95) from 3 to 5 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 4801 Concord Pike, Brandywine Hundred. He will also host two programs - a $30- per-person brunch, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and a $45 dinner from 5 to 6:30 p.m., at Celebrity Kitchens, 1601 Concord Pike.
Silverstein's paperback cookbook, written with co-host Jill Cordes, contains behind-the-scenes highlights and anecdotes of the TV show, which spotlights five culinary spots in five different states. The show takes Silverstein across the country, sometimes interviewing restaurateurs, such as Britney Spears, who once owned a now-closed New York eatery. The book also contains restaurant profiles and recipes.
Silverstein, a former broadcast journalist, visits Delaware regularly to see family and friends. In 2000, he spotlighted Wilmington's Hotel du Pont for Food Network.
Not much of a cook, he once joked that his only cooking experience prior to joining the Food Network in 1999 was "warming up a Swanson's Hungry-Man meal."
Angela Martinez, a co-owner of Celebrity Kitchens, says Silverstein has told her while his culinary abilities have greatly improved, "he's nobody's chef." The culinary school's in-house instructor Michael Opdyke, chef/owner of Michael O. Foods and Wines Inc., a Wilmington catering business, will prepare recipes from the book for the brunch and dinner.
Call 427-2665 for reservations.