LINCOLN PARK — As the only Lincoln Park outlet to take part in Independent Bookstore Day, the cookbook shop Read It & Eat has plans to keep its customers sated Saturday.
Owner Esther Dairiam is expanding the hours to 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday at 2142 N. Halsted St. and offering a 15 percent discount on all books, including those with the authors putting in special appearances for the occasion.
Foremost among them is the Publican pastry chef Dana Cree, who'll be bringing the ice cream to promote her new book, "Hello, My Name Is Ice Cream: The Art and Science of the Scoop." Mini scoops of her fresh ice cream will be served from noon-6 p.m., and she'll be signing copies of her book at 2:45 p.m.
Pastry chefs are the order of the day, with Malika Ameen signing copies of her new book, "Sweet Sugar, Sultry Spice: Exotic Flavors to Wake Up Your Baking," at 1:30 p.m., when she'll also lead a game of Foodie Fight.
Local photographer Dan Goldberg and food stylist Andrea Kuhn will sign copies of "Cuba! Recipes and Stories From the Cuban Kitchen," which they worked on with author Jody Eddy, at 12:45 p.m. From out of town, Jeremy Fox, chef and owner of Rustic Canyon in Santa Monica, Calif., will sign copies of his debut cookbook, "On Vegetables: Modern Recipes for the Home Kitchen," at 4:15 p.m.
As a side dish, Fox, who's in town for the Beard Awards as a nominee for best chef in the West, will warm up by cooking a five-course lunch at Boka, 1729 N. Halsted St., for his pal Lee Woland. Tickets are $85 and include a copy of the book with lunch. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
Back at Read It & Eat, food trivia and other games will be played throughout the day, leading up to a BYOB screening of the Virgilio Martinez episode of the Netflix series "Chef's Table" at 6:15 p.m., with the bookstore providing the snacks.
A full schedule is online, and while everyone is welcome at any time, one can also reserve places for the various signings and games.
Independent Bookstore Day is a spin-off of Record Store Day, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last weekend. A list of participating Chicago bookstores can be found here.
