For Immediate Release

    BLIND CHEF TEAMS UP WITH SOUTH FLORIDA FOUNDATION
TO PRODUCE A DESCRIPTIVE TELEVISION COOKING SHOW
        FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND

    Move over Emeril!  Now, there's a new television cooking show which will
help blind and partially sighted people enjoy the art of cooking while
shedding light on issues visually impaired people face when dining out and
eating in.
    The show, "Cooking Without Looking," is hosted by Bill Quain, a Florida
International University professor in the School of Hospitality Management
who has been blind since he was stricken with macular degeneration as a
teen-ager. "This is a show that helps you get more out of cooking if you have
a challenge,"says Professor Quain. "You don't need to see to prepare great
meals.  You just have to have a sense about creating foods that go well
together."
    Vision World Foundation, a Florida not-for-profit corporation is
producing "Cooking Without Looking," a half hour television show which
utilizes audio description, a technical capability which is much like a
play-by-play of what is being seen on the screen.  Ren'ee Rentmeester,
co-founder of Vision World Foundation along with her partner, Mauricio
Guaiana, is creator and producer of "Cooking Without Looking."  A former news
and community relations producer for CBS in Miami and a two time Emmy
nominee, Ren'ee got the idea for a cooking show for the blind while doing
research on blind chatlines.  "I found that by far  the busiest chatline was
the Blind Cooks chatline," says Ren'ee.   "So I set out to find a blind chef
and I didn't look very long before I found Bill, who is absolutely the most
perfect host this show could have.  He's caring, positive and very funny."
    The show is taped in front of a live studio audience made up of blind and
sighted individuals, and others who have various disabilities.  During each
"Cooking Without Looking", Bill  will choose an audience member to help him
create a main course, side dish, dessert and discuss blindness issues and
solutions in a positive, upbeat manner.  He'll also provide viewers with
cooking tips in simplifying recipes to accommodate a lack of sight, as well
as hints on how to stay safe in the kitchen.
    In the first show, Bill creates honey Dijon salmon with asparagus spears,
simple and elegant rice pilaf, and raspberry coulis.  Bill and his guest
discuss how to overcome restaurant menus and eating ribs in public.  During
the show, Bill gets the audience to laugh, sing and clap to a tune he made up
to get his students to remember how to tell if fish is fresh.  He also gets
the audience to recite in unison, 'A nebulous bouquet,yet it endures,' to
impress guests when sipping wine.
    When Bill and Ren'ee started telling people about a television cooking
show for the blind, people couldn't see it.  "Blind people eat, so that means
blind people have to cook," says Bill.  "We're going to show them how much
fun they can have in an easily accessible way they can enjoy without any
special television settings or machines .
    "Sighted people will love the show, too," says Ren'ee.  "They can walk in
the other room and still hear a description of what's going on."
    "Cooking Without Looking" is currently looking for an on-air home and
sponsorhips.  For more information and to see a presentation tape, please
call Vision World Foundation at 305-754-4816 or contact us at
www.visionworldfoundation.org.

Special thanks goes to Florida International University's School of
Hospitality Management for their donation of time, talent and kitchen.

    For media information, please call Ren'ee Rentmeester at 305-754-4816.