Author and TV host Steven Raichlen and awarding-winning OC chef and restaurateur Zov Karamardian will delight fans when they demonstrate some of their favorite recipes Sunday, October 14 at the Mission Viejo Readers’ Festival.
Steven Raichlen, the multi-award winning author, journalist and PBS TV host of “Primal Grill” will give a 45-minute demonstration grilling up Caveman T-bones, Argentinean beef ribs, corn and sweet potatoes at 1 p.m. by the Food Court. He will discuss his latest grill books “Planet Barbecue” and “Best Ribs Ever.” Folks will be able to ask the popular TV personality - whose shows have redefined American barbecue – questions, take photos and purchase a book.
Later in the day at 3:15 p.m., Raichlen moves inside the neighboring Norman P. Murray Community and Senior Center to talk about writing his first novel “Island Apart,” a foodie love story set on Martha’s Vineyard. He’ll discuss the genesis of the story and his transition from food to fiction.
Before Raichlen’s book discussion, Karamardian will take center stage at 2:15 p.m. in the community center’s Jacaranda room. She is chef-owner of the award-winning Zov’s Bistro in Tustin and Zov’s Café in Irvine and the Newport Coast. The ever-charismatic chef will make her creamy butternut squash soup and traditional Greek salad. She will also sign and sell her latest cookbook, “Simply Zov” as well as her other award-winning cookbooks.
The two authors will join other popular writers like former baseball player Jim Abbott, novelist T. Jefferson Parker, former O.J. Simpson prosecutor Marcia Clark and actress Molly Ringwald at the free Mission Viejo Readers’ Festival that brings books to life.
Along with meeting their favorite authors up close and personal inside the Norman P. Murray and Community Center, festival-goers will experience life in the Middle Ages at Oso Viejo Park with live demonstrations of archery, knights in battle, catapult launching and craft activities for all ages. The event includes a live chess game on a life-size board, celebrity and author readings, book signings and sales, fabulous fare and so much more. Queen Elizabeth 1 will stroll the venue knighting folks who recite a poem or sing a song for her.
This free festival, sponsored by the Friends of the Mission Viejo Library, is from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Oso Viejo Park and Norman P. Murray Community and Senior Center, 24932 Veterans Way. With convenient, free shuttle service (11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.) from the Mission Viejo Library at 100 Civic Center, parking is a breeze as the library will be closed the day of the event.
For more information about this one-of-a-kind festival, visit cityofmissionviejo.org/ReadersFestival. #mvreadersfest.
