The Most Exciting Food Events for Spring

There are all manner of fun, food events taking place in New York on a daily basis — from lavish, charity-driven galas to crowded, walk-around tastings and an endless array of pop-ups, featuring transient chefs throwing sit-down dinners in abandoned warehouses, or barbecue blowouts in someone’s backyard.  But unless you have the time and money to party seven days a week, you’ll have to be somewhat discerning about what goes onto your calendar.  So here are just a few worthy food celebrations we recommend getting tickets for now!

Taste of the Lower East Side (April 24th): Grand St. Settlement has been working since 1916 to provide social services to needy residents of the Lower East Side, and eating your way through their annual tasting event is a fantastic way to help support their efforts.  Over 4 million dollars has been raised to date on the sale of tickets ($195 general admission, $300 VIP), which include unlimited bites from esteemed, area restaurants, such as Dirt Candy, Freemans, DBGB Kitchen & Bar, Katz’s, L’Apicio, wd-50, Rosette, Porsena and more.

Food Book Fair (April 25th-27th): This three-day festival of food culture is jam-packed with don’t-miss events.  Visit a number of engaging panels for $15 each, like how race relations affect food systems, a roundtable discussion on GMO’s, and making organic food accessible, as well as a pitch competition for upstart businesses (billed as Shark Tank for Sustainable Foodies) and even a no-holds barred Food Book Slam (be sure to vote for “Brooklyn Chef’s Table” as the Best Food Fair Cookbook!)

Taste of the Nation (April 28th): This annual, star-studded tasting event benefits Share our Strength’s “No Kid Hungry” campaign to help end childhood hunger in America.  Yes, tickets are pricey ($225 for general admission or $450 VIP), but in addition to funding a great cause, you’ll be treated to bites and drinks from 75 of New York’s buzziest restaurants and bars, like Betony, All’onda, Toro, Pouring Ribbons, Dominique Ansel Bakery, Pearl & Ash, Contra, The Cleveland, The Butterfly and many, many more.

Tasting Brooklyn (April 29th): A bit more under-the-radar than Taste of the Nation, this casual, walk-around event is nevertheless a fun opportunity for Brooklyn restaurants to strut their stuff.  And you’ll still be able to do your bit for charity, too (a portion of the proceeds from $55 tickets go towards Slow Food NYC).  A whopping 30 eateries will be on hand, battling it out for the honor of “Best Dish.”  So will it be a reliable borough favorite, like Benchmark, Luke’s Lobster or Palo Santo, or a hip, young newbie, like 1 Knickerbocker, Martha, Dosa Royale or Falansai?  It’s up to you to help decide!

LUCKYRICE New York Feast (May 2nd): In honor of their fifth anniversary, this celebration of Asian cuisine is reviving all of their greatest hits throughout the life of the festival.  That means $150 tickets will treat you to authentic street food a la “Night Market,” fine dining bites in the tradition of “Grand Feast” and cocktails from “Cocktail Feast,” provided by participating restaurants like Spice Market, Maharlika, Pig & Khao, Morimoto, Qi, Rasa, Yunnan Kitchen and Mhetaphor.

The Village Voice’s Choice Streets (May 7th): Hot on the heels of the Voice’s ever-popular Choice Eats event comes its little sibling, Choice Streets, which showcases the terrific fare being produced by New York’s sizable fleet of food trucks.  And goodness knows, it’s well worth the $50 to access numerous mobile eateries all in one place (on Pier 86 of the Intrepid) instead of separately following Coolhaus, Souvlaki GR and Korilla BBQ’s Twitter feeds in order flag them down.