Restaurant Festival Will Feature Tastes And Aromas Of Local Cuisine The Event Will Span Four West Chester Blocks And Include Craft Booths And Live Music From Two Stages.

WEST CHESTER — A truck pulled up yesterday afternoon to the New York Sandwich Shop in downtown West Chester delivering 160 pounds of chicken and 100 pounds of calamari.

"I hope we'll have enough," said Anthony Mastroianni, the restaurant co-owner. "We will sell all of this in one day."

It's not just any day. From now until Sunday, Mastroianni, restaurant owners and workers around the county will be preparing for the 21st annual Chester County Restaurant Festival held Sunday from noon to 5:30 p.m. in downtown West Chester.

"It's the busiest day of the year for restaurants," Mastroianni said. "We'll literally be working around the clock making chicken salad, and preparing foods."

The festival will span four blocks in downtown West Chester, filling the air with the aroma of local cuisine and the sounds of live music from two stages. The event is expected to draw about 15,000 visitors.

The borough's recreation department office has been taken over by parrot balloons and fishnets as employees prepare for this year's theme of "Tropical Paradise." The rain date is Sept. 24.

On four blocks of Gay Street from Walnut to Church Street, 58 restaurants will have booths set up to sell tastes of their cuisine.

The restaurants will offer food and decor with a tropical flair.

"Think lots of fruit, lots of spices," Mastroianni said.

"The idea is that you don't go and buy a full meal from each booth," said Shelagh Purnell, assistant director for the West Chester recreation department. "You can have a crab cake . . . then a taste of pasta . . . everything. Then you think, 'Gee, I'd like to go back to that restaurant sometime.' "

On High Street between Market and Chestnut Streets, there will be information and craft booths, Purnell said.

One West Chester restaurant employee said she looks forward to the event every year as a chance to get to know other customers and restaurants.

"We start talking about it months in advance," said Kathy Dunn, a longtime employee at Vincent's restaurant and bar in West Chester. "It's an enormous day. There is always a huge turnout. We get T-shirts made so all our employees have the same T-shirt. We have extra staff on hand that day."

The event will be carried live on QVC. Unisys Corp. of Blue Bell will set up a booth with information on the West Chester Community Internet portal, which is now under way. Unisys also will be raffling off a laptop computer.

"It's a fun day," Purnell said. "I know the Eagles are playing . . . but there's still plenty of people in the county to provide attendance."

Lisa Fine's e-mail address is lfine@phillynews.com