Food & Wine Magazine and American Express Partner to Offer Exclusive Restaurant Reservations for Cardmembers Through September 30

New York, NY, July 16, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Partnership Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Food & Wine Best New Chefs.

Need a last-minute dinner reservation? Traveling to a new city?

Food & Wine, published by American Express Publishing Corporation, a subsidiary of American Express Company, is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the magazine’s signature F&W Best New Chefs by offering American Express Cardmembers® special access to reservations at Best New Chefs’ restaurants nationwide. Prime Saturday night reservations will be available now through September 30 at foodandwine.com/bnc.

In 10 key cities, including Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington DC, American Express Cardmembers will be able to log-on and have exclusive access to special reserved tables at F&W Best New Chef restaurants. Participating restaurants include: Craft, Lucques, Spago, Vetri, Radius, Lilette, and more.

In addition, to booking reservations at restaurants, visitors will be able to plan hotel stays via American Express Travel and learn insider tips from these star chefs about their cities. For example, Daniel Boulud, a Food & Wine Best New Chef in 1988, recommends St. Nick’s Pub in Harlem for late-night jazz and Balthazar for brunch in New York City. He says, “I usually have the corned beef hash with a fried egg on top and wash it all down with Krug Champagne.” Chicago chef Rick Bayless, a Food & Wine Best New Chef in 1988, says his favorite nightlife spot in Chicago is The Violet Hour; and Los Angeles’ Nancy Silverton (Best New Chef in 1990) spotlights the farmers’ markets in Santa Monica and Hollywood and the Pug Burger at The Hungry Cat for late-night snacking.

In addition to the chef recommendations, visitors are encouraged to join Members Know (www.membersknow.com), a unique online travel community for American Express® Cardmembers to share travel insights from their personal travel experiences and knowledge about everything from family-friendly resorts in Bali to the best Mediterranean restaurants in Chicago. Here, they are able to get dining advice or tell fellow Cardmembers about their most memorable meals.

There will be 3,000 reservations available at over 50 F&W recommended hot spots nationwide. For more on the 2008 F&W Best New Chefs, who were spotlighted in the July issue, and recipes from all the rising star chefs over the past 20 years, visit foodandwine.com/bestnewchefs.

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About Food & Wine
Food & Wine is the modern, stylish, trend-spotting, talent-seeking epicurean magazine. Published by American Express Publishing, the leader in luxury lifestyle magazines, Food & Wine has a circulation of approximately 950,000.

About American Express Company
American Express Company (www.americanexpress.com) is a leading global payments and travel company founded in 1850.