The Iron Chef, a popular program on the Food Network, is looking for people who also love Iron Chef competitions, from fans who dress up in Japanese costumes to full-length videos of people who host their own cooking competitions. Tell the network why nobody Iron Chefs like you do and they might send a camera crew to capture you in Iron Chef action. Learn more here.
Not quite ready for Iron Chef competition? If not, you can still generate fabulous publicity for your restaurant, your cooking prowess or your passion for food. Here are a few ideas:
—Contact food editors at your local newspapers and let them know about interesting food-related traditions you have adopted for holidays like Passover, Thanksgiving and even Halloween.
—If you own a restaurant, share with the media new trends you’re seeing in your industry. Are more restaurants allowing diners to bring their own liquor? Is the low-carb craze fizzling? Are restaurants that offer outdoor dining encouraging diners to bring their pets?
—Take an interesting, funny or serious food-related poll or survey and report results to the media. Iams, the company that makes pet food, surveyed its customers and learned that 93 percent of those who responded admitted saying “I love you” to their pets. They released results to the media in the weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day, and one of the wire services distributed a story about the survey.
These tips are excerpted from “Publicity Tips for Restaurants, Chefs & Foodies.”