2008 NYC Wine & Food Festival: An Early Warning
Thursday, May 1, 2008

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Yesterday morning right around this time we sat down with Lee Schrager, honcho at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, to talk brass tacks on the 2008 NYC Wine & Food Festival, taking over the Meatpacking District and elsewhere October 9-12th. There's been a sprinkling of buzz on the first annual festival already—Ferran Adria is coming to town, Rachael Ray is reprising her Sobe burger bash in Dumbo—but perhaps we haven't quite grasped the size of the New York version, the first event of this kind that the five boroughs have ever seen. Some quick details now:

· The Kick-off party is Thursday, 10/9, hosted by Bobby Flay. All of the Chelsea market will be open for tasting and drinking.
· The aforementioned Rachael Ray burger bash is not only taking place in Dumbo, but it's going down in the historic Tobacco Warehouse, the landmark in Empire-Fulton Ferry State park open by special engagement only.
· Meanwhile, on the same night in the Meatpacking District, Unkorked (working title, but if you have any ideas...) will take over, with restaurants and retail stores showcasing the goods of a different wine maker. It's a bar crawl for fancy people, and one ticket has you into the whole shebang.
· Then, New York Times is getting in on the fun, hosting Times Talks on Saturday, 10/10, with Ferran Adria, Nigella Lawson, Alice Waters, and, to-be-confirmed, Tony Bourdain.
· Pier 54 of the Hudson River Park will be turned into the Grand Tasting Pavilion; Del Posto is hosting wine seminars; Comix will get to stay open another six months and host cooking demonstrations; Adour will stage a private dinner prepared by Alain Ducasse; and you just know El Chod is going to get all up in the fun.

It's the food and beverage behemoth New York has never had. Think of it all like a Dave Chang restaurant inside a Keith McNally Restaurant inside a Danny Meyer restaurant. If you are a chef and haven't secured a spot for yourself on the program, it's time to call Mr. Schrager. If you're a fan, tickets go on sale June 15th. BraceWire.



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