T.G.I. Friday’s(R) Restaurants Unleash The ‘Ultimate’ Dessert

Food Network’s ‘Ultimate Recipe Showdown’ Winner Inspires ‘Spiced Up Cupcakes’ Available Only at Friday’s(R) Restaurants

CARROLLTON, Texas, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ — After a nationwide recipe search to determine the ultimate dessert recipe, cupcakes inspired by Lisa Roman, a 34-year-old artist and Army wife from Roswell, Georgia will be featured at over 600 U.S. T.G.I. Friday’s(R) restaurants (www.fridays.com) beginning today.

Roman’s dessert recipe was judged to be best in class by a panel of food experts on Food Network’s “Ultimate Recipe Showdown” – a six-week series featuring everyday folks with the best recipes in America pitting their best dishes against one another for a $25,000 prize, national acclaim and the chance to have his or her recipe featured nationwide at T.G.I. Friday’s (http://www.foodnetwork.com/ultimate-recipe-showdown/index.html). This is the second consecutive year in which winning recipes from the show have inspired entrees on the Friday’s menu.

The ultimate result: Spiced Up Cupcakes, all of the sweetness and spice of pumpkin pie wrapped up in two pumpkin applesauce spice cupcakes which are topped with cream cheese frosting and garnished with chopped pecans and served with a side of vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

“These cupcakes are so flavorful with the pumpkin and applesauce spice, super creamy cream cheese frosting and chopped pecans,” said Scott Randolph, senior director of culinary, R&D for T.G.I. Friday’s USA. “Friday’s serves these a la mode with a side of vanilla ice cream and gooey caramel sauce. Dessert will never be the same again.”

Earlier this year, more than 640,000 members of Friday’s guest recognition program, Give Me More Stripes(TM) (www.givememorestripes.com) received a coupon via email worth $5 off any Ultimate Recipe Showdown entree. The coupon is valid through February 16, 2009.

In addition, as part of its Valentine’s Day promotion beginning February 10 through February 15, the Spiced Up Cupcakes will be free to Give Me More Stripes members with the purchase of two entrees at participating restaurants.

Food Network’s “Ultimate Recipe Showdown,” in its second season, features original recipes, whittled down from thousands of submissions, in six categories — Comfort Food, Burgers, Cakes, Hot & Spicy, Desserts and Hometown Favorites. The show, hosted by Guy Fieri, aired last night with four finalists competing in two rounds: speed and signature dish. The show will air every Sunday at 9 pm ET/PT through February 15.

About Give Me More Stripes

The only nationwide in-restaurant program of its kind with more than 640,000 members in the US, Give Me More Stripes offers the following perks at participating restaurants:

Personalized & customized membership card

• Free appetizer or dessert upon sign-up (up to $8 value)
• One-time use jump-the-line-pass
• $8 certificate for every $100 spent (excluding alcohol-only purchases)
• Exclusive communication about specials and food/drink previews

In addition, members have been treated to the following:

• Complimentary members-only food such as chips and dip and hummus and chips
• Free takeaway snacks like Cheddar and Bacon Potato Skins
• Free dessert during Black Friday Weekend
• Red and white chips at the World’s Largest Inauguration Party
• Double stripes on special party days throughout the year
• $5 coupons off Ultimate Recipe Showdown entrees
• Free crispy bean fries as part of The Game We Can’t Name Eve party
• Free birthday dessert with the purchase of an entree
• Voting privileges to determine the All-American Drink

Carlson Restaurants Worldwide Inc., the parent company of T.G.I. Friday’s Inc., is a privately held company owned by Minneapolis-based Carlson, a world leader in the hospitality, travel and marketing industries. As of February 2009, Carlson Restaurants Worldwide owns, operates, franchises or licenses more than 1,000 restaurants in 60 countries. For more information, visit http://www.fridays.com.

FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network and Web site that strives to be way more than cooking. The network is committed to exploring new and different ways to approach food – through pop culture, competition, adventure, and travel – while also expanding its repertoire of technique-based information. Food Network is distributed to more than 98 million U.S. households and averages more than 9 million unique Web site users monthly. Food Network programming is available internationally in more than 150 countries. Food Network is headquartered in New York, and maintains offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and Knoxville, Tenn. Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), which also owns and operates HGTV (www.hgtv.com), DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com), Great American Country (www.gactv.com) and Fine Living Network (www.fineliving.com), is the manager and general partner.

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SOURCE T.G.I. Friday’s restaurants