2012 TASTE Philadelphia Festival of Food, Wine and Spirits

Presented by Gourmet Shows, The 2012 TASTE Philadelphia Festival of Food, Wine and Spirits will undoubtedly quench your thirst and satisfy all your hunger cravings. The event is being held at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at the Oaks from October 12th-14th, 2012. Don’t miss your chance to sample all of the best restaurant foods and wine vendors. There will be over 200 stations to choose from!
 
This year, cooking demonstrations will be led by, Bravo’s “Real Housewives of New York City” and “Bethenny Ever After”, star Bethenny Frankel on Sunday, October 14th. As the star of her new daytime talk show on Fox, “Bethenny,” creator of Skinnygirl Margarita and Skinnygirl Sangria, and author of bestselling books, Naturally Thin, The Skinny Dish, and A Place of Yes, Bethenny will exhibit all of her secrets for mixing the most tasteful yet slimming cocktails and preparing the most delicious, guilt-free foods.
 
In addition, the festival boasts an impressive lineup of celebrity chefs including Frank Benowitz, Rocky Fino, Michael Giletto, Darryl Harmon, Geoff Johnson, Ralph Mazzochi, Jennifer Mueller, Michael Scipione, and Barry Sexton. Emmy award-winning comedian and chef Mark DeCarlo will be giving a free cooking demonstration and rewarding one lucky audience member with a $10,000 Grand Prize for an all-inclusive vacation to the Caribbean!
 
The 2012 Grand Market Culinary Demonstrations are also a main attraction of this year’s festival. Chef Ron Duprat, best known as a competitor on season six of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” along with retired NBA all-star veteran Cliff Robinson and his wife, Heather Robinson will perform a special cooking demo on behalf of their non-profit organization, the Robinson Network. The demo will include a tasting of Chef Ron’s masterpieces and Cliff Robinson’s self-taught culinary skills. It will take place on Sunday, October 14th at 1:45PM and all of the proceeds will go to Haiti, the origin of Chef Ron’s culinary expertise.
 
The wine and beer seminars will also be informative and interesting. Emmy award-winning television host, author, regular on NBC’s “The Today Show” with Kathie Lee & Hoda and founder of Thirsty Girl, Leslie Sbrocco, will lead Wine IQ Seminars throughout the weekend. Award-winning writer Gary Monterosso, and regular of the History Channel, will present his 100 episode-long webcast, “Still Crazy After All these Beers.” Several entertaining programs will follow suite, such as the Pinot Boutique Wine Seminars, each event as exciting as the next.
 
The 2012 Taste Philadelphia Festival of Food, Wine and Spirits will take place from Friday, October 12th 2012 from 4:00PM – 8:00 PM, Saturday, October 13th, 2012 from 11:00AM to 7:00PM to Sunday, October 15th, 2012 from 11:00AM to 3:00PM. Tickets for the festival are available starting at $45. General admission tickets include all food, wine and spirits tastings. For each Friday and Sunday event tickets purchased in advance, receive a $5 Gourmet Shows Token* at the door, good towards your Festival purchases from our exhibitors. Children 6-12 are $10.00 and children under six are free! Seminars, Chefs on Stage series and VIP Cocktail Party are additional. Tickets for all events can be purchased online at www.gourmetshows.com/philly2012/index.html. The Greater Philadelphia Expo Center is located at 100 Station Avenue, Oaks, PA 19456.