Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall

Lynne Rossetto Kasper Returns

Food guru Lynne Rossetto Kasper returns to the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall for its annual benefit in October. 

The ever popular host of The Splendid Table®  radio show from American Public Media (which can be heard locally on WDUQ 90.5 FM Sunday afternoons at 4:00 p.m.) was here in 2004.  Ms. Kasper charmed an enthusiastic audience with an event that cleared more than $50,000 for the campaign to restore the ACFL&MH.

Lynne Rossetto Kasper is an award-winning cookbook author, broadcaster, cooking teacher, and lecturer on food and culture.  The James Beard Foundation has called her "… a riveting storyteller, who combines deep scholarship with humor and a contagious passion for her subject."
 

The Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall gratefully acknowledges Presenting Sponsor Anthony Sinatra.  Other generous sponsors include: William and Frances Aloe Charitable Foundation Gordon Terminal Services Company of PA Reed Smith The Bank of New York Mellon Highmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield N.E. Bognar Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Bill and Darlene English Charlie and Clare Goetz The Hill Group Inc. Dr. and Mrs. Michael Kutsenkow Bill and Georgia Manby Northwestern Mutual Financial Services Paragon Foods Pittsburgh Mailing. WDUQ 90.5FM is serving as media sponsor for the event.

"We join the ranks of the millions around the country who love Lynne,” enthuses executive director Maggie Forbes.  “Not only did she set the bar for a completely successful benefit when she was here in 2004, but she modeled the sort of outstanding programming we hope to make a regular feature here at the Library & Music Hall. Apparently Lynne is as fond of the ‘Carnegie Carnegie’ as much as we are of her,” says Ms. Forbes.  “She’s agreed to be here for two days.” 
 

"What a treat it will be to come back to greet old members and new.  Pittsburgh hospitality has never been surpassed, and I cannot wait. I have my October dates for returning to the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall circled in red on the calendar,” says Lynne. 
 

Saturday’s program, starting at 4 p.m., will feature Ms. Kasper doing what she does best, holding an audience enthralled with her talk GLORIOUS FEASTS:  THE SECRETS OF OUTRAGEOUS TABLES AND THE FOODS WE PUT ON THEM.  Lynne’s presentation will examine the all-too-revealing world of the table, taking the audience from Lucrezia Borgia’s Renaissance banquets where political savvy dictated if your next mouthful would be your last, to today’s minefield of shifting hip and chic. From sustainable farming to artisan foods, from cookbooks as serious reading to the Food Network, Lynne offers a look at what’s in and what’s out, and the “why” of how we dine.
  

 “Lynne is encyclopedic in her knowledge of food and what it means to break bread with the people we like and love.  She’s the gold standard without being remotely intimidating,” says Ms. Forbes.  October 20’s presentation will allow time for Lynne’s signature question and answers from the audience, and be followed by a wine and small plates reception throughout the Library & Music Hall. 
 

On Sunday, October 21, the ACFL&MH is hosting a brunch and book signing with Lynne in its Reception Hall.  The brunch is limited to 100 people and will allow for some one on one time with Ms. Kasper. The brunch will include Hot Tools for Cool Nights, an interactive presentation from CRATE.
 

Ms. Kasper’s weekly radio program produced by Minnesota Public Radio (an affiliate of American Public Media) celebrates food and how it touches our lives and feeds our souls.  “The Splendid Table” is a culinary, cultural and lifestyle program that features great recipes, captivating conversations and terrific travel tips for some of America’s regional kitchens and cuisines.  “The Splendid Table” first aired in 1994.
 

WHAT: Lynne Rossetto Kasper Program, followed by wine and small plates reception WHEN: Sat. Oct. 20 at 4:00 p.m. WHERE: Music Hall 300 Beechwood Ave. Carnegie PA 15106 TIX:  $75 WHAT: Brunch and booksigning with Lynne Rossetto Kasper WHEN: Sun. Oct. 21 at 11:00 a.m. WHERE: Reception Hall 300 Beechwood Ave. Carnegie PA 15106 TIX:  $75

Ms. Kasper was inducted into Who’s Who in American Food and Beverage, and holds an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Paul Smith’s College.  Her nationally broadcast public radio show, The Splendid Table®, won the James Beard Award for Best National Radio Show on Food and was named Best Nationally Syndicated Radio Talk Show by the Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television.   
 

Ms. Kasper’s book, The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna, the Heartland of Northern Italian Food, is the only book to win both the James Beard and Julia Child/IACP Cookbook of the Year Awards. Her book, The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy’s Farmhouse Kitchens, examines Italian rural life and the origins of Italian foodways. 
 

Tickets for the October 20 talk and reception and the October 21 brunch and book signing are $75 for each program.  Saturday talk begins at 4:00; Sunday’s brunch at 11:00.  Proceeds benefit the campaign to restore the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall.  The ACFL&MH has raised more than $4 million towards its $8.6 million campaign to restore its beautiful historic landmark facility.
 

Call 412/276-3456, x. 6 for more information about the Lynne Rossetto Kasper event.
 

 Partaking at 'Splendid Table' - Article in Signal Item newspaper, October 17, 2007
 

 WYEP Allegheny Front interview of Lynne Rosetto Kasper - Oct. 10, 2007 -- Allegheny Front Website
 

Poster for this event

Lynne's website

WDUQ's website