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  1. Venues & Destinations
  2. United States
  3. New York

Inside New York's Wine & Food Fest: Activations From Borgata, LG, Illy, and More

Melissa Ward Schorsch
October 16, 2012

Throngs of foodies flocked to culinary demonstrations, tastings, seminars, and parties for the fifth run of the New York City Wine & Food Festival this weekend. Starting on Thursday, October 11, the four-day eating, drinking, and culinary series from Southern Wine & Spirits once again overtook the city, hosting gatherings from SoHo and the meatpacking district to Midtown and Brooklyn. 

Ever expanding, this year's festival had plenty of new events, including a roast of Anthony Bourdain and a fried chicken sampling dubbed Shake & Bake with Whoopi Goldberg and Questlove. Naturally, Food Network stars returned to host popular outings, including Giada De Laurentiis for the festival's opener Meatball Madness, Sandra Lee at the Godiva-sponsored dessert tasting known as Sweet, and Bobby Flay for the Mexican-inflected Tacos & Tequila, which was expected to serve 29,700 tacos. Guy Fieri held court at Pier 36 for the daylong Fun and Fit in the City sponsored by Target, which offered culinary demonstrations by Andrew Zimmern and Rachael Ray. Bringing extra foodie events to the festival this year was first-time partner, the International Culinary Center.

To date, the Wine & Food Festival has raised more than $5 million for Food Bank for New York City and Share Our Strength, and corporate brands played an important role in extending the offerings of the gastronomic series. As a big sponsor and official card of the festival, MasterCard offered cardholders presale ticket access, fast-pass entry to events, premier seating for demonstrations at the ShopRite Grand Tasting, and a lounge at events like Godiva Sweet! and Tacos & Tequila. LG provided kitchen set-ups for culinary demonstrations across all of the weekend’s events, while Illy set up shop by hosting the welcome center, and Whole Foods hosted the Braiser media lounge in addition to presenting events like the Sandwich Showdown.

Godiva’s Sweet
Godiva’s Sweet
Friday's late-night dessert showcase doubled as the festival's fifth anniversary celebration, and, as a nod to this and title sponsor Godiva, a gilded Lady Godiva rolled around 82 Mercer handing out birthday hats.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Illy Park Welcome Center
Illy Park Welcome Center
In the meatpacking district—the New York City Wine & Food Festival's hub—Illy set up a public welcome center. The coffee brand's spot had red and white seating, coffee stations, book signings by Food Network stars, and a "Give Happilly Coffee Amnesty," in which festival-goers could donate coffee in exchange for a complimentary can of Illy MonoArabica.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Whole Foods’ Shake & Bake
Whole Foods’ Shake & Bake
Hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, the fried chicken event set up shop at Yotel on Thursday night and had several eateries like the Brooklyn Star offer fried chicken and waffles served in waffle cones. Inside the hotel's fourth-floor space, guests were treated to tunes by DJ Questlove, while the terrace offered a view of the skyline and colorful decorations to the tenting structure.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Whole Foods’ Shake & Bake
Whole Foods’ Shake & Bake
The photo op from Shake & Bake sponsor Cape Cod Potato Chips came complete with seagulls—to match the brand's imagery—and invited guests to post pics to Instagram. A screen at the event displayed images marked with the hashtag #Capeonthego, and guests who posted their photos scored a free T-shirt and chips.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Astor Hours
Astor Hours
A cocktail-focused event at the Public Theater on Thursday was hosted by in-house culinary expert Andrew Caramellini. As guests strolled through three different spaces—the Lobby, Joe’s Pub, and new lounge the Library—they could sample various cocktails, mini crab sandwiches, and margarita marshmallow pops (pictured).
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Borgata Lounge
Borgata Lounge
In the basement space of 82 Mercer, the festival's casino sponsor the Borgata created a lounge space that let attendees play casino games, snap pics in a photo booth, and paint the interactive graffiti wall, which included chocolate "paint" and "spray paint." The activation was open for three days, running from Thursday to Saturday.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Blue Moon Burger Bash
Blue Moon Burger Bash
This year, the festival's signature Burger Bash moved from the Tobacco Warehouse in Brooklyn to Basketball City at Pier 36. Rachael Ray returned to host the affair, which was sponsored by Blue Moon and Pat LaFrieda Meats, and saw servers on roller skates pass around mini treats.
Photo: Neil Rasmus/BFAnyc.com
Thrillist’s BBQ and the Blues
Thrillist’s BBQ and the Blues
Hosted by Rocco DiSpirito, who was celebrating the release of his book Now Eat This! Italian, Thrillist's event on Friday served all types of barbecue complemented by take-home bags of brownies from Fat Witch. To add branding to the Hudson Terrace, the lifestyle Web site placed its logo within the chandelier and on the side of the building.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Godiva’s Sweet
Godiva’s Sweet
True to tradition of the event, Godiva decorated the entire three-room space with chocolate touches including a chocolate photo booth background, chocolate-studded vases, and columns lined with the sweet stuff.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Godiva’s Sweet
Godiva’s Sweet
Echoing the Absolut Citron-clad bar, lush floral arrangements with citrus details dotted bars and tabletops throughout the venue.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Godiva’s Sweet
Godiva’s Sweet
Some 1,200 feet of confetti garland hung from the ceiling, matching the chair decorations.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Godiva’s Sweet
Godiva’s Sweet
A gold background by Confetti System served as a festive backdrop for photos.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Target’s Fun and Fit in the City
Target’s Fun and Fit in the City
Hosted by Guy Fieri, Target's kid-friendly, educational event on Saturday filled Basketball City with activities like a Carnival-sponsored obstacle course, Zumba lessons, and a giant foosball table. Children in attendance took home bags filled with healthy snacks.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Target’s Fun and Fit in the City
Target’s Fun and Fit in the City
Healthy snack stations dotted the perimeter of the room for a break from the activities. The Indian Harvest table served soothing soup from a festive pumpkin display.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Target’s Fun and Fit in the City
Target’s Fun and Fit in the City
A main sponsor of the entire festival, LG approached the event with kid-friendly activities like a sock toss to showcase its new laundry machines. Additionally, to promote the new LG dishwasher, the electronics brand had several mom bloggers partake in a dish-loading challenge.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
The Lobster Place Oyster Bash
The Lobster Place Oyster Bash
The seafood-focused Saturday afternoon event, hosted by Hook, Line & Dinner star Ben Sargent was presented by the Corcoran Group at the Standard's Biergarten. The Lobster Place donated approximately 14,000 oysters for the outing in addition to several restaurants and oyster farmers setting up shop for the tasting. Some stations even offered to teach attendees how to shuck.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
The Lobster Place Oyster Bash
The Lobster Place Oyster Bash
Nautical displays were featured throughout the venue as guests strolled from table to table sampling bites from eateries like the Mermaid Oyster Bar and Ed’s Chowder House, including oysters with gazpacho, mini oyster potpies, and French fries.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
ShopRite’s Grand Tasting
ShopRite’s Grand Tasting
The Hudson River Park's Pier 57 was overflowing with stations of food and drink for the tasting on Saturdy and Sunday, as well as KitchenAid culinary demonstrations with a rotating roster of Food Network personalities taking the stage kitchen. As a sponsor, Delta hosted a lounge where attendees could take a breather by relaxing in the airline’s new business elite seats and sample sommelier-selected wine served in-flight. Also available for testing was Delta’s Touch the Future interactive app, which allowed guests to select their travel priorities such as "shopping" or "foodie travel" and see which locations the airline offers fit their travel must-have list.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
ShopRite’s Grand Tasting
ShopRite’s Grand Tasting
Buick teamed up with online chocolatier Chocomize to promote their affordable luxuries mindset. Grand Tasting attendees were invited to sample chocolate bar ingredients—including chocolate and sea salt or chocolate and red pepper—then hop on an iPad and place an order for the customized treat to be delivered directly to their home.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Avión’s Tacos & Tequila
Avión’s Tacos & Tequila
Sponsored by Creekstone Farms and hosted by Bobby Flay, Saturday night's Tacos & Tequila filled the three-room space at 82 Mercer with tacos of all kinds. Many stations had simple displays of ingredients used and various signs on the walls that read, "Tacos, yo!"
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Whole Foods Market's Sandwich Showdown
Whole Foods Market's Sandwich Showdown
Held at the Highline Stages, presented by the Corcoran Group, and hosted by Food Network’s Sandwich King Jeff Mauro, Sunday's Sandwich Showdown saw attendees sample 15 different sandwiches, including pastrami and lobster rolls. Each attendee was given a wooden coin as they entered, which was used to vote for the event's best sandwich.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Whole Foods Market's Sandwich Showdown
Whole Foods Market's Sandwich Showdown
The event offered a fall foliage decor theme with sunflower bouquets, red and orange leaf displays, and a scenic step-and-repeat. Funny signage around the venue paid homage to the sandwich through tweaked song lyrics, like "I am sandwich, hear me roar," "spread some mayo on me," and "for the love of the sandwich."
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
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