If you could invite anyone, who would you invite to your dinner party? Host Elysabeth Alfano invites some of the most interesting and important celebs, influencers and chefs of our time to join her over food and drink for completely unscripted and off-the-cuff discussions. Sometimes Alfano hosts a round-table of celebs meeting for the first time and sometimes she hosts an intimate tete-a-tete. Either way, the dialogues are always revealing, personal and sometimes shocking, with a from-your-own-home feel and experience because, as we know, the best conversations happen over dinner.
Elysabeth Alfano
Elysabeth Alfano is an arts and culture journalist, former gallery owner and TV, stage and radio producer and host. She has been bridging the gap between celebrities, entertainers, artists and influencers and the public for over 20 years.
In 2009 she started her production company, Fear No ART Chicago, which launched its first show, “Fear No ART” on PBS’ WTTW, with Alfano as its Creator, Executive Producer and Host. The success of the show was remarkable and, with the gaining momentum of the internet, it branched out into a very popular bi-weekly web series. With all statistics pointing to the internet as the new TV, Ms. Alfano launched a new show, with a new format, entitled, “The Dinner Party with Elysabeth Alfano”, on January 30, 2012. The show is a celebrity, round-table, TV talk show where Alfano invites 3 celebs to a dinner created by a guest chef. Over food, wine and a few impromptu performances, the unscripted conversations flow! Filmed live in front of a live audience at City Winery, the show streams live on The Chicago Sun Times Splash before going to Ch. 19 and TiVO, with segments going to The Huffington Post, Youtube, Rivet Radio, Soundclound, and iTunes. Audience members share in the food and viewers participate by asking guests questions via Twitter and winning prizes if their tweet is chosen on air, making this popular event truly an interactive and up-close -with–celebrities experience.
In 2014, “The Dinner Party with Elysabeth Alfano” branched into a popular podcast and joined the WGN Plus podcast family in 2015. Similar to the TV show and live event, on the podcast, Alfano invites some of the most interesting and important celebs, influencers and chefs of our time to join her over food and drink for completely unscripted and off-the-cuff discussions. Sometimes Alfano hosts a round-table of celebs meeting for the first time and sometimes she hosts an intimate tete-a-tete. Either way, the dialogues are always revealing, personal and sometimes shocking, with a from-your-own-home feel and experience because, as we know, the best conversations happen over dinner.
Ms. Alfano taught Graduate and Undergraduate classes in Marketing For the Visual Artists at Columbia College, and has freelanced on various journalism projects, including writing food reviews and consulting. She has also done voice-overwork for Kurtis Productions and took the Improv for Actors Series with Second City. She has been interviewed countless times on TV, and has freelanced on NPR’s WBEZ, interviewing and producing her own segments. Alfano blogs for The Huffington Post and has also been a guest host several times on WGN Radio.
