On October 16, the enCourage Kids Foundation will host Serving Up Smiles, a premier tasting extravaganza that will include decadent food from world-renowned chefs and top named restaurants in NYC, VIP Lounge, world-class wines, spirits, and incredible auction items at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers. Red Carpet & Door 6:30pm-9:30pm.

ABC Sports Anchor Ryan Field will emcee the evening alongside Chef Ralph Scamardella (Chef & Partner TAO Group Hospitality) who is the Culinary Chair for this event. DJ CHEF will keep guests dancing as they enjoy the fine cuisine at the beautiful waterfront venue.

Invited guests include Charles Oakley (NBA All-Star/Coach/Chef), Malik Yoba (Actor – Empire & NY Undercover), Erik Coleman (Former NFL Safety & MSG Commentator of Odds with Ends), Howard Cross (NY Giants Super Bowl Champion & YES Network Commentator), Tony Richardson (NFL Legend & Sports Commentator), Matt Brust (Former NBA Forward & ), to name a few.

Participating Restaurants include Beauty & Essex, Be B.I.O. Café, Bryant Park Grill, Cardinali Bakery, Dolce Bella, F. Ottomanelli By The Water, Hunt & Fish Club, LAVO New York, Ocean Prime, Robert, Sfoglia, TAO Downtown, The Curry Blossom.

Participating Beverages include Dr. Perricone Hydrogen Water, Fever-Tree, FIJI Water, Gelston’s Irish Whiskey, Jade Sparkling Wine, JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery and Landmark Vineyards, Newburgh Brewing Company, Owl’s Brew, Whitley Neill Gin, and Zyr Vodka.

Gold Sponsors include Ark Restaurants Corp, Cougar Capital & The Donut Pub, Feil Family Foundation, Flagstar Bank, and GFP Real Estate. Silver Sponsors include Lucy and David Ball and Segal Mc Cambridge.

Photo Booth Sponsors Emerson Entertainment and Goldberg Weprin and Giveaway Item Sponsor Buchbinder & Warren.

More information and for tickets, please visit www.encourage-kids.org and https://ekf-sus.org/

The Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival presented by Capital One returns to celebrate 16 years this October 12-15  with more than 80+ events featuring over 500+ chefs from around the world who come together with God’s Love We Deliver to support New Yorkers affected by severe illness. The Festival is proud to announce that for the first time, it will be offering discounted tickets to restaurant workers through a new partnership with The Industry Table.

This new initiative invites restaurant workers to dine at select events from the Festival’s Intimate Dinner and Lunch Series at 50% off the ticket price. These intimate dining experiences will feature one-time-only menu collaborations between world-renowned chefs like Daniel Boulud, Alain Allegretti, Phet Schwader, Scott Conant, Tiffany Faison, Vijay Kumar and more. The menus will be perfectly paired with wine and spirits from the Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits portfolio. A full list of available dinners can be viewed here.

“The New York City Wine & Food Festival is a celebration of the entire hospitality industry, and it’s important to us to make it as inclusive as possible,” said Festival Founder and Director Lee Brian Schrager. “We’re honored to partner with Chef John Fraser and The Industry Table to offer these coveted seats exclusively to restaurant workers and help celebrate the very people who are the backbone of our industry.”

Launched in March 2023 by Chef John Fraser, The Industry Table offers a table every night of service for hospitality workers to dine at cost across his portfolio nationwide, including IRIS, La Marchande, North Fork Table & Inn, The Terrace and Outdoor Gardens at The Times Square EDITION, Ardor at The West Hollywood EDITION and Lilac at the Tampa EDITION. To date, there have been nearly 500 seatings.

“We launched The Industry Table to foster community amongst hospitality workers by gathering around the table and making dining out accessible,” said Chef John Fraser. “We’re thrilled to team up with the New York City Wine & Food Festival to further expand the mission and spur camaraderie.”

Booking is available in sets of two tickets, and at least one guest must be currently employed in the restaurant industry. Reservations can be made by filling out The Industry Table form on https://www.jfrestaurants.com/nycwff-industry-table/ and are filled on a first-come-first-serve basis.

100% of the Festival’s net proceeds support their mission to EAT. DRINK. FEED NYC. through God’s Love We Deliver, the New York City metropolitan area’s only provider of medically tailored meals and nutrition counseling for individuals living with severe illness. To purchase tickets, visit www.nycwff.org.

Stay up to date by following the conversation all year long on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using @NYCWFF/#NYCWFF and on TikTok at @NYCWineFoodFestival.

On Friday, October 27 the opening day of Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park will be kicking off the 22^nd season of NYC’s favorite holiday destination. This event features an expansive free-admission skating rink, unmatched holiday market, and a festive bar and food hall. Partnering with Bank of America for the 11^th year, Bryant Park is thrilled to be welcoming back one of NYC’s most popular winter attractions.

• The Rink is the largest free-admission ice skating rink in New York City. Skate time and rentals through November 29 can be reserved in advance online. New skate reservation dates will be released throughout the season.
• The Lodge is a rinkside, après skate-escape where visitors can cozy up with a festive cocktail, enjoy delicious food from local restaurants, and watch the ice skaters or admire the tree.
• This season’s Holiday Shops by Urbanspace Markets will feature over 180+ new and returning merchants in an open-air holiday market, including the Small Business Spotlight presented by Bank of America, where four New York City minority-owned small businesses, with annual revenues of $1 million or less, will showcase and sell their products in a rent-free shop for approximately two weeks each. Featured businesses will be announced in the coming days.

Visitors are invited to Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park to enjoy the holidays and the broader winter season. The Rink and The Lodge will be open daily beginning October 27, 2023 through March 3, 2024. The Holiday Shops by Urbanspace Markets will be open daily from October 27, 2023, through January 2, 2024. Visit wintervillage.org for hours and details.

The entrance is between 40^th Street and 42^nd Street on 6^th Avenue

#WinterVillage @BryantParkNYC

This event took home the gold medal and more!

Amex Gold & Resy Present: Dip into Gold at Duggal Greenhouse in the Brooklyn Navy Yard this Saturday, September 30th.

Brilliantly re-imagined signature dishes, featuring inventive sauces for guests to drench, drizzle, slather and dunk were grandly showcased during the thrilling night hosted by comedian Nicole Byer.

New York City’s favorite Resy restaurants including Laser Wolf, Foul Witch, Sylvia’s, Seoul Salon, Jacob’s Pickles, and Potluck Club were all on site serving up yummy dishes as special pop-up experiences from Amex Gold Card Dining Credit partners took place by Grubhub, Goldbelly, Wine.com, The Cheesecake Factory, and more.

For the entire affair attendees felt the joy with incredible food, music and epic fun. Chef Romeo Regalli, Executive Chef of Ras Plant, who was serving up his special event dish Injera Nachos, spoke on the importance of the momentous occasion.

“The companies putting this event together gives me a lot of hope businesses in the area. I think what American Express is doing great, especially for me as a small business,” said the chef as guests enjoyed his dish from his exquisite organic vegan Ethiopian eatery.”

Other amazing chefs featured during the party were Chef Mike Mayo of Laser Wolf with French Fries dunked in Tehina Ketchup; Chef Carlo Mirarchi with Foul Witch and Stone Fruit drenched in Leche de Tigre; Chef Marcus Woods of Sylvia’s with Sylvia’s World-Famous BBQ Rib Bites slathered in Sylvia’s Original Sassy Sauce; Chef Eli Sussman of gertrudes with Mini Challah Bite slathered with a Smoke Bluefish Pate, Herbs and Pickled Red Onion; Chef Dave Rizo of Yellow Rose with Corn Fritters with Cream; Chef Carlha Azcona of Shuka with Moroccan Spiced Eggplant; Chef Marc Ellert-Beck of Stretch Pizza with Old Town Square with Mushroom and Pumpernickel; Chef Preston Clark of Lure Fishbar with Lobster and Shrimp Dumpling; and Chef Zhan Chen of Potluck Club with  Fried Mantou with Black Sesame Dulce de Leche.

In between splendid culinary discoveries, attendees thrilled in Shake Shack’s Event-Exclusive Gold Sundae: A new sundae featuring vanilla cake, frozen vanilla custard and made with White Truffle Butterscotch Caramel and garnished with roasted hazelnuts and gold flakes; The Basket by Grubhub: Wing tasting with four popular sauces from: Mudville 9, Mable’s Smokehouse, Tacombi, and Insa; Goldbelly Special Delivery: A wall of special Goldbelly boxes are available to choose from, each containing an exclusive Goldbelly takeaway; Wine.com Carts: Exclusive wine sips with Wine.com at various tasting carts throughout Dip Into Gold. The complimentary pours will enhance the bites featured in each unique section; The Cheesecake Factory Photo Booth: Capture your saucy smiles at The Cheesecake Factory photobooth; and to end the perfect night sweet tweets from Milk Bar Milk Truck: a custom-designed milk truck will provide complimentary desserts.

Here is to creating your own golden experience in your own town today with American Express.

Photos by: Jamie Mccarthy, Getty