FRANCES BISSELL and ROBERTO BAVA
GROUCHO CLUB DINNER, 17 NOVEMBER 1999
in London



Internationally acclaimed cook and award-winning food and cookery writer,
Frances Bissell, has been 'The Times' Cook since 1987. Her delicious recipes
appear in 'The Times' every Saturday. As well having written many books, her
writing has appeared in publications in Britain and abroad, including 'The
New York Times', 'The San Francisco Examiner', 'The Bangkok Post' and the
'South China Morning Post'.

Frances is considered by many to be the expert on the British Kitchen, and
she has been called "the queen of British cooking". She was the first woman
to be made a chef member of the Academy of Culinary Arts, formerly the
Academie Culinaire de France.

She is regularly invited to cook in some of the world's leading hotels and
restaurants, including the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, the
Inter-Continental in London, the Dusit Thani in Bangkok, the Manila
Peninsula, the Bogota Hilton, and the George V in Paris. In October 1997 she
was guest cook at the British Embassy in Paris. Earlier this year, she was
invited back to cook at The Mark in New York after a sell-out promotion
there last year.

When not cooking, teaching or writing, Frances travels, to seek out
unusual ingredients, to visit markets and producers, to taste new recipes,
and to spend time in other peoples' kitchens.

Frances Bissell was born in Yorkshire. As well as France, she has lived in
South Africa, Nigeria, America and Germany. She now lives in north London
with her husband, Tom. In the autumn Macmillan will publish their
'A to Z of Food and Wine in Plain English'

For the Club Dinner, Frances is preparing a feast of fresh, new season's
English produce, and marrying these new recipes with the innovative, vibrant
and exciting Bava wines from Piedmont. Her friend, Roberto Bava, will be
here to introduce an exciting selection of his family's wines.

These wines of character and flavour, such as Arbest, the new generation of
Superbarbera, using local grape varieties, are as far removed from the
ubiquitous Chardonnay's and Cabernet Sauvignons as can be imagined. The
dinner will finish with Moscato d'Asti Bass Tuba, which as Roberto says is
"a bunch of flowers to add floral happiness at the end of the meal."

For anyone the least bit interested in good food and wine, this is an
evening not to be missed.

The Groucho Club, a private members' club, located in London's Soho area,
is home to writers, artists, media people and celebrities of all persuasions.
Its bar is considered one of 'the' places to be seen in London.