News Release

NEW YORK--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Sept. 11, 2001--

           Food Network and Bloomsbury Publishing Partner on
                 Promotion, Including Twenty City Tour

Anthony Bourdain, best-selling author of Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, is, once again, primed for a food knockout. With the debut of a new weekly Food Network television series and the release of a new book of the same name (Bloomsbury, $25.95), A Cook's Tour promises to take viewers and readers on a wild ride of international cuisine.

The book - which will be published in December 2001, just in time for the holidays - will be followed by the TV show's primetime premiere on January 8 at 10:30 PM ET/PT (airs Tuesdays at 10:30 PM ET/PT as part of Food Network's "Taste The Adventure" block). The creation of a partnership to promote A Cook's Tour, including sponsorship of a twenty-city book tour this January, was announced today by Food Network executives Eileen Opatut, senior vice president, programming, and Adam Rockmore, vice president, marketing; and Karen Rinaldi, editorial director, Bloomsbury Publishing.

Perhaps best described as "the Lou Reed of food," Bourdain, former executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in New York City, is at once surly and sexy - a cultivated, candid and cool (not to mention critically-acclaimed) chef. According to Gourmet, he is "more than just the food world's favorite outlaw...if Emeril is the Food Network's spice and Jamie Oliver is the sugar, Tony Bourdain will be the salt."

"Travel around the world, meeting cooks, eating whatever I want, playing with automatic weapons...That's living the dream," said Bourdain. "I can only assume that some criminally insane cabal of anarchists at Food Network allowed this project to fly in under the radar."

"Tony is a star. He's opinionated, passionate, and his unbridled appreciation of the food world adds a unique dimension to the variety of our on-air offerings. His lust for life comes straight through the camera lens and invigorates the viewer," said Opatut.

"We're thrilled to be working with Food Network on the launch of Tony's new book. The value of the additional exposure via the TV medium can't be overestimated. His association with the country's premier food programming outlet, fresh on the heels on the success of Kitchen Confidential - which is still selling well in hardback and is being turned into a feature film - positions him as a potential blockbuster in every way," said Rinaldi.

According to Rockmore: "Food Network has enjoyed very successful relationships with publishing companies in the past, but partnering on A Cook's Tour will open up the door to some very inventive marketing options. It also allows us to create ad sales opportunities for our affiliates while driving tune-in and book sales, not to mention, introducing Tony to a new and passionate audience."

A Cook's Tour features the adventurous chef as he spans the world sampling local delicacies, from the bountiful to the bizarre as he journeys to Mexico, Japan, Vietnam, the USA and elsewhere. In Japan, Bourdain tastes traditional Edo-sushi, indulges in "Chanko" (the sumptuous family-style stew favored by Sumo wrestlers) and even eats Fugu, a poisonous blowfish, which can only be prepared by specially licensed chefs. With a penchant for the unusual, Bourdain tries a "hearty" meal of live cobra in Vietnam and ingests insects as part of his South of the Border excursion.

"Bourdain clearly operates with all six burners on scorch," noted USA Today in a review of his groundbreaking book, Kitchen Confidential. After nearly 30 years in the business, Bourdain's revealing glimpse of the serious drugs, hedonism and wild debauchery of restaurant life and his let-it-all-hang-out-manner took both the book and food worlds by storm. Kitchen Confidential has been optioned for a movie, under the working title "Seared," by the team that produced "Fight Club" (David Fincher, Art Linson, and Brad Pitt).

Bourdain's career in the restaurant industry began as a dishwasher in a restaurant in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he quickly fell in love with the pirate glamour of the kitchen underworld. A New York City native, he dropped out of Vassar after two years and eventually attended the Culinary Institute of America. Although best known for Kitchen Confidential, Bourdain's other published works include the urban historical Typhoid Mary and the mystery novels Bone in the Throat and Gone Bamboo.

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (www.bloomsbury.com) is the publisher of the bestselling books Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain and The Tulip by Anna Pavord; other authors include Ben Cheever, Edmund White, Peter Carey and JT LeRoy. Bloomsbury discovered J.K. Rowling and is the publisher of the Harry Potter series in the UK.

FOOD NETWORK (www.foodtv.com) is the nation's only 24-hour cable television network dedicated to good food and good times. With headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and Knoxville, FOOD NETWORK is distributed to more than 66 million U.S. households. Internationally, FOOD NETWORK programming is seen in Canada, Australia, France, Republic of Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE:SSP), which also owns and operates Home & Garden Television Network (HGTV), Do It Yourself (DIY), and Fine Living, is the managing general partner.