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On the other hand, experts say, it's important to keep an open mind when presented with a deal. Tom Colicchio, the New York-based chef-restaurateur who owns and operates 16 restaurants under the names of Craft, Craftsteak, Craftbar and 'wichcraft, initially resisted repeated offers to audition as a judge for a reality show the producers of "Project Runway" were working on for Bravo television called "Top Chef."

"They wanted me to do a screen test, and I said no," he says. "I didn't think it would be right for me."Despite his continued resistance, though, the producers kept pressing him, eventually winning him over. It was, he admits, a smart move."I had no idea how successful Top Chef would be," he says, "and what's great is that the industry has really accepted it."The show is not particularly demanding, requiring only about 10 percent of his time, he says."It takes about a month to shoot 16 episodes," Colicchio says.

The celebrity status accorded with having a hit tiffany bracelets on sale has its benefits too. While Colicchio says he still isn't exactly comfortable being recognized on the street, his role in "Top Chef" helps draw people to his restaurants - "especially in the summer when the tourists are in town." He noted that his affiliation with the show also helps when he expands out of his New York home base into other cities where he is not as well known.Colicchio "still turns down more deals than he accepts," and acknowledges the need for a strong business structure. When the company started to expand more rapidly last year, he realized he needed to tiffany money clips on sale the company. As evidence, he points to the opening of Craftsteak in the summer of 2006."When we opened Craftsteak in New York, it got bad reviews from [The New York Times restaurant critic] Frank Bruni - the first bad reviews in my life," he says. "The team didn't work out, we just didn't have all hands on deck. As you grow, you tend to find inefficiencies and have to address them."

He learned his lesson by the time he opened Craft in Los Angeles."I spent two months there," he says. "I was there every night."He also established a new business structure for his restaurants. Craft and Craftsteak have been consolidated into Craft Worldwide, which maintains a small management team. At the same time his 10 'wichcraft sandwich shops in New York, Las Vegas and San Francisco were gathered into a separate company, which tiffany cufflinks on sale runs with two operating partners. Three more 'wichcrafts are slated to open over the next four months.

Lidia Bastianich also is a believer in establishing a strong business infrastructure, which, in her case, proves to be something of a family affair. Working with her son, Joseph, and daughter, Tanya Manuali, Bastianich owns several of the top upscale Italian restaurants in New York, including Del Posto, of which Mario Batali is a major stakeholder. She also writes cookbooks, operates her own television production company tiffany earrings on sale develops products for retail sales. She and her son have branched out into the wine business, operating two Italian vineyards.

Beginning in the 1970s with a small, nine-table restaurant called Buona Villa in Queens, N.Y., Bastianich crossed the East River to Manhattan where she opened the award-winning Felidia. Along the way she worked to establish herself as an authority on Italian cuisine and culture, branching out gradually, first with a book deal and later with a cooking show for the Public Broadcasting Service.Over the years she has made several series for PBS, all based on cookbooks she has written. Her latest, "Lidia's Italy," is seen on more than 300 PBS channels in the United States as well as in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Asia. About 4 million people are estimated to watch each show.

As a result of her television success, Bastianich has diversified even further, forming her own production company, Tavola Productions, which long-time employee Shelly Burgess and her daughter oversee. Bastianich says that each television series is tiffany key rings on sale to a cookbook, which together take about two years to write and produce. When it comes time to shoot the series, specialists are hired on a temporary basis, she explains. Production can be expensive, she says, noting that her various sponsors cover all costs.