Appetite for Good

Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation, the annual culinary event dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America, bursting with fantastic fare from over 50 top-tier local restaurants and libations from a revered group of mixologists and wineries alike. Familiar faces filled the space on Monday night, as celebrity chefs and restaurateurs such as Aaron Sanchez, Danny Meyer and Marc Murphy were signing books, cooking or simply chatting with elated foodies at the nonprofit fête.

On Tuesday, April 24th, City Harvest hosted their 18th annual An Evening of Practical Magic gala event at Cipriani 42nd Street. This year’s gala attracted over 500 guests and raised a record-breaking $2 million dollars. The event pays tribute to the efforts of those who have gone above and beyond their commitment to help City Harvest feed New York’s hungry and 100% of the proceeds go to City Harvest.

The event started off with a bang… literally… there was a taxi-on-taxi accident just before we entered and the loud crash made me jump! Just in time for Earth Day, it’s the perfect reminder that life is precious and we should consider our specific impact on the world.

But its not the meal I had expected, there was no tuna, salmon, or yellowtail in sight. Those may be the most popular fish in today’s sushi, but as Trevor told us, real sushi connoisseurs will say those fish are too easy for people to like. Tonight we are celebrating the old kings of sushi – fish like flounder, snapper, sea bream.

Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation— the philanthropic culinary extravaganza— is slated for Monday, April 30 at 82 Mercer Place in Soho in New York City. The event brings together the top restaurants, chefs, bakers, mixologists and food personalities

The Varli Food Festival is an annual food, wine and desserts tasting event showcasing Indian cuisine and culture. Hosted by Emmy-nominated television host Padma Lakshmi and Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, this year over 60 restaurants and 20 leading chefs from across the U.S.

A Passover dinner is a wonderful opportunity for families to recline at the table, recite the holiday’s story, and eat traditional foods like matzah and gefilte fish. But every year, thousands of our neighbors – including many of the estimated 250,000 Jewish New Yorkers living below the poverty line – are unable to access an adequate amount of food that qualifies as Kosher for Passover.

What better way to bring 2012 SOBEWFF to a close than with an exciting first-time event: Trucks on the Beach presented by Cultivate Wines and hosted by Andrew Zimmern. Wait—trucks ON the beach? Yep, literally ON the beach!

Food Network SOBEWFF is always a whirlwind weekend of food and wine. Amid the lavish events, glitz and frequent sightings of culinary glitterati, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that amidst all the fun, every ticket sold benefits the Florida International University’s Chaplin School of Hospitality.

We headed back to get prettied up for Wine Spectator’s Best of the Best tasting event sponsored by Bank of America at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach Hotel. This was our second year attending this party and it’s now our favorite event of the weekend. It is clearly the most elegant and classy affair on the entire SOBEWFF program.