NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--48,000 passionate fans came out to EAT. DRINK. FEED NYC. and celebrate the 15th annual Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival presented by Capital One (NYCWFF) October 13-16. The Festival featured more than 85 events throughout the city including walk-around tastings, late-night soirées, family-friendly affairs and an all-star line-up of intimate dinner experiences featuring world-renowned chefs. The annual gourmet gathering returned to raise awareness for God’s Love We Deliver, New York City’s metropolitan area’s leading provider of medically tailored meals and nutrition counseling for individuals living with severe illness. This year alone, the organization will cook and home deliver 3 million medically tailored meals for New Yorkers too sick to shop or cook for themselves.
“We are grateful for the support of all of the consumers, talent and partners who came out to help us celebrate 15 years of serving up world-class wine, spirits, food and unique experiences in support of God’s Love We Deliver,” noted Festival Founder & Director Lee Brian Schrager. “Not only do we believe that every New Yorker deserves access to fresh and nourishing meals, but we also believe NYCWFF serves as a vital platform to uplift and celebrate the diverse New York hospitality industry while connecting key chefs, culinary leaders, and all New Yorkers to this worthy charitable cause.”
NYCWFF’s 2022 edition featured plenty of highlights throughout the weekend, with several of the participating chefs and mixologists taking home top honors. On Thursday, October 13, guests voted on their favorite burger while an esteemed panel of celebrity judges including Peloton instructor Ally Love, Super Bowl champion and former New York Jet Willie Colon, co-host of Food Network’s The Kitchen Sunny Anderson, television host Adam Richman, Emmy Award winner and host of WNBC's New York Live Lauren Scala and social media sensation Danny Mondello aka @meals_by_cug decided who would take home the coveted trophy at Blue Moon Burger Bash presented by Pat LaFrieda Meats hosted by Rachael Ray.
- Pat LaFrieda’s 2022 NYCWFF Burger Bash® Champion: San Matteo Pizzeria e Cucina
- Blue Moon People’s Choice Award Winner: Source Urban Brewery
On Saturday, October 15 the Cast of The Kitchen and the Elvis Duran Morning Show team took over Pier 86, Home of the Intrepid Museum, to host Caviar presents Tacos & Tequila After Dark powered by Toyota. Food Network’s Sunny Anderson, Alex Guarnaschelli, Jeff Mauro and Geoffrey Zakarian taste-tested their way through more than 24 tacos to crown a winner during this supersized fiesta.
- Caviar Best Bite Award: Brooklyn’s 2 Girls & a Cookshop Jamaican Tacos
- Best Cocktail Award: Patrón Tequila
Saturday night saw the ultimate NYC cocktail showdown during Battle of the Boroughs: A Cocktail Showdown presented by BACARDÍ hosted by The Try Guys. An expert panel that included cocktail-influencer Gio "Chat Chow" Gutierrez, Candice Coy of Employees Only and 2013 Speed Rack National Champion Eryn Reece judged the cocktails on flavor profiles, versatility and innovation.
- Bacardi Judge’s Choice Award: Sweetleaf Coffee & Cocktail Bar
- Bacardi People’s Choice Award: Sally's Southern
NYC foodies also enjoyed unique, one-night-only dinners hosted by some of the world’s most critically acclaimed chefs and paired with a variety of high-end wines and spirits from the Festival’s exclusive provider, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. The series featured more than 30 seated dinners held at NYC’s finest establishments, including God’s Love We Deliver.
Participating chefs included Alain Ducasse, Sohla El-Waylly, Kwame Onwuachi, Amanda Freitag, Marcus Samuelsson, Dani García, Antonia Lofaso, Brooke Williamson, Michael White, Chintan Pandya, Carlton McCoy, JJ Johnson and many others. Several other stand-out moments capped off the star-studded weekend, including:
- 90’s icon, GRAMMY® award-winner and front man of legendary group RUN DMC, Rev Run gave a show stopping performance at Remy Martin presents 15th Anniversary Dessert Party sponsored by Average Socialite hosted by Kalen Allen
- ABSOLUT Drag Brunch hosted by David Burtka and Neil Patrick Harris with special guests Manila Luzon and Latrice Royale featured performances from NYC’s most popular drag queens including Hibiscus, Essence and Marti Cummings.
- Ghetto Gastro, a Bronx culinary collective, kicked off their book tour with JUST Egg on Sunday at the Grand Tasting featuring Culinary Demonstrations presented by Liebherr Appliances
- Ben Soffer, aka @boywithnojob and founder of Spritz Society, hosted Disco and Drinks: A Night of Classic Cocktails featuring over 25 of today’s top spirit brands with music by NYC-based experiential music group Disco Sauce.
- Dorsia presented an exclusive, private screening of Searchlight Picture’s new film The Menu for Festival chefs followed by a Q&A hosted by Yotam Ottolenghi featuring Director Mark Mylod and screenwriters Seth Reiss and Will Tracy.
To close out the weekend, an enthusiastic crowd indulged in the ultimate Sunday Funday at Backyard BBQ presented by Pat LaFrieda Meats hosted by Dario Cecchini and Andrew Zimmern featuring carnivorous creations from NYC’s most lauded pitmasters.
Save the Date: The Festival will return for its 16th installment on October 12-15, 2023. Stay up to date by following the conversation all year long on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using @NYCWFF/#NYCWFF and on TikTok at @nycwinefoodfestival.
Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival presented by Capital One
The Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival presented by Capital One is hosted by God’s Love We Deliver with 100% of the Festival’s net proceeds helping to support New Yorkers facing severe illness. Over the past 15 years, the Festival has generated more than $14 million for its charitable partners. Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits is the exclusive provider of wine and spirits at the Festival. In November 2021, BizBash named the Festival the #1 Food & Restaurant Industry event in New York for the ninth year in a row. More information on the Festival can be found at nycwff.org. Follow NYCWFF on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram at @NYCWFF and on TikTok at @NYCWineFoodFestival.
God’s Love We Deliver
God’s Love We Deliver cooks and home-delivers nutritious, medically tailored meals for people too sick to shop or cook for themselves. Founded in 1985 as a response to the AIDS pandemic, God’s Love now serves people living with more than 200 different diagnoses. God’s Love addresses food and nutrition insecurity and supports the health and well-being of its clients by providing ongoing nutrition assessment, education and counseling; advocating for food and nutrition support and delivering medically tailored meals. God’s Love is a non-sectarian organization serving individuals living with illness and their children and caregivers. With a community of thousands of volunteers, they home-delivered more than 2.8 million medically tailored meals to nearly 10,000 individuals last year. All services are free to clients and full of love. For more information, visit godslovewedeliver.org. Follow God’s Love on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits is the world’s preeminent distributor of beverage alcohol and is proud to be a multi-generational, family-owned company. The Company has operations in 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Southern Glazer’s urges all retail customers and adult consumers to market, sell, serve and enjoy its products responsibly. For more information, visit www.southernglazers.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @sgwinespirits and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SouthernGlazers.
