NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--47,000 passionate fans came out to EAT. DRINK. FEED NYC. and celebrate the 16th annual Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival presented by Capital One (NYCWFF) October 12-15. The Festival featured more than 80 events throughout the city including walk-around tastings, late-night soirées, 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 only provider of medically tailored meals and nutrition counseling for individuals living with severe illness. This year alone, the organization will cook and home deliver 3.9 million medically tailored meals to more than 13,000 New Yorkers too sick to shop or cook for themselves.
“We are grateful for everyone who came out to help us celebrate our sweet 16. We took great pride in offering a Festival lineup that celebrated diversity through our events, talent, restaurants, and venues, while also delivering world-class wine, spirits, food, and unique experiences in support of God’s Love We Deliver,” noted Lee Brian Schrager, Festival Founder & Director. “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.”
“God’s Love We Deliver is so proud to be the exclusive charity partner of NYCWFF,” says David Ludwigson, President & CEO of God’s Love We Deliver. “Every day, more and more people reach out to God’s Love We Deliver for the medically tailored meals and nutrition education and counseling only we provide in New York City. Events like NYCWFF and the amplification from its sponsors, partners, and guests, help get the word out about our life-affirming work so that we can reach all who would benefit from our food and nutrition services.”
NYCWFF’s 2023 edition was filled with incredible highlights throughout the weekend, with several participating chefs earning distinguished awards. The Festival kicked off on Thursday, October 12 with Peroni’s Taste of Italy presented by Stella Italian Cheese hosted by Alex Guarnaschelli and Gabriele Bertaccini. L’Antica Pizzeria de Michele won the “Taste of Stella” Award along with $10,000 for the best modern twist on a classic Italian dish using a Stella product. Stella Italian Cheese also donated an additional $10,000 to God’s Love We Deliver. The Peroni’s People’s Choice Award for the best bite of the night went to Violette’s Cellar.
On Friday, October 13, guests voted for their favorite burger while an esteemed panel of celebrity judges decided who would take home the coveted trophy at Blue Moon Burger Bash presented by Pat LaFrieda Meats hosted by Rachael Ray.
Judges included Real Housewives of New York City’s Luann de Lesseps, The New York Times bestselling cookbook authors Nadia Caterina Munno aka @the_pastaqueen and Dan Pelosi aka @grossypelosi, social media sensations Jessica Hirsch aka @cheatdayeats, Eric Sedeño aka @ricotaquito and Marco Medici aka @Chef Marco_NYC.
- Pat LaFrieda’s 2023 NYCWFF Burger Bash® Champion: CitiField
- Blue Moon People’s Choice Award: Mel’s Butcher Box
- Violife: Powered by Plants Award: Mel’s Butcher Box
On Saturday, October 14 the Cast of The Kitchen took over Pier 86, Home of the Intrepid Museum at Hudson River Park, to host Tacos & Tequila which featured special appearances by actors Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston who were shaking up cocktails behind the Dos Hombres bar. Food Network’s Jeff Mauro, Geoffrey Zakarian, Katie Lee Biegel and Alex Guarnaschelli tasted their way through more than 25 tacos created by NYC’s best taco shops.
Those who were looking to learn from today’s top content creators about the latest trends and engage in thought-provoking discussions on the intersection of food, culture and tech attended FoodieCon® presented by Instagram, a first-of-its-kind celebration held at the Hard Rock Hotel New York. Diversifying the offerings even further, for the first time ever, NYCWFF set sail with Sunset Sips at Sea presented by The Social Shell. Festival guests embarked on a memorable journey aboard La Barca Cantina, a floating bar, which cruised down the majestic Hudson River all while enjoying luscious seafood bites crafted by New York City's finest restaurants. Also new to the roster was the Best of Brooklyn hosted by Brian Lindo aka @Briancantstopeating which highlighted Brooklyn’s top eateries at 74Wythe.
NYC foodies 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. Participating chefs included Daniel Boulud, the dazzling Martha Stewart commemorating Audrey Hepburn, Jet Tila, Esther Choi, Michael Symon, Marcus Samuelsson, Michael Voltaggio, Chintan Pandya, Alain Ducasse and many others.
Several other stand-out moments capped off the star studded weekend, including:
- Absolut presents the David Burtka and Neil Patrick Harris Annual Drag Brunch sponsored by NYC Pride hosted by Lea DeLaria with special performances by RAJA, Shangela, Symone and NYC’s greatest drag queens presented by Queerty
- Latin Nights at Harbor NYC Rooftop showcased Latin tunes, cuisine and cocktails curated by the world-renowned Bar Lab team along with Ana Navarro from The View and Food Network’s Franco Noriega serving as hosts.
- Ben Soffer, aka @boywithnojob and founder of Spritz Society, hosted Disco and Drinks: A Night of Classic Cocktails featuring over 20 of New York’s best restaurants.
To close out the weekend, an enthusiastic crowd danced the night away to hip-hop classics in honor of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop and a celebration of Black cuisine and culture at the BACARDI presents JJ Johnson’s The Cookout: Hip Hop’s 50 Anniversary Celebration featuring DJ CASSIDY, Rev-Run, Ice-T, Angela Yee, Tamron Hall and DJ MICK.
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 supporting New Yorkers facing severe illness. Over the past 16 years, the Festival has generated more than $14.8 million in net proceeds for its charitable causes. Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits is the exclusive provider of wine and spirits at the Festival. In November 2022, BizBash named the Festival the #1 Food & Restaurant Industry event in New York for the 10th year in a row. More information on the Festival can be found at nycwff.org. Follow @NYCWFF on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram 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 their 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 3.6 million medically tailored meals to nearly 13,000 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 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.
