Recipe for Special Occasion

Take a talented cookbook author, a food-festival impressario, a pair of highly regarded Food Network stars and a country western band, gather them together in a Texas barbecue restaurant in Manhattan and what have you got? A recipe for a truly special occasion. Which is all the more ironic, because the reason for the alignment of these winning ingredients was the launch of a cookbook subtitled Recipes for Everyday Occasions.

Thrown by New York Wine & Food Festival organizer extraordiniare Lee Schrager, the party honored his good friend Katie Lee, whose book is the latest in her Comfort Table series. In addition to Food Network stars Giada De Laurentiis and Guy Fieri, a passel of journalists, friends and publicists popped in to the Flatiron district resto Hill Country to congratulate the always-gracious Lee and to sample recipes from her book, including such feel-good foods as sliders, macaroni and cheese and super-chocolatey brownies. Suffice it to say, there were many happy faces in the room, helped no doubt by the copious and yes, comforting cuisine.

For more pics of the party, click here.