How the New York City Wine & Food Festival Plans to Host 65 In-Person Events

NEW YORK—Starting tomorrow and running through Sunday, the Food Network & Cooking Channel New York City Wine & Food Festival presented by Capital One celebrates its 14th year with its return as an in-person event.

After a mostly virtual 2020 event, this year’s four-day festival features more than 65-plus events, including walk-around tastings, intimate dinners, parties and brunches taking place at locations around the city.

“We missed being in Manhattan. We missed the energy. We missed the talent. We missed the consumers. [New York] is the greatest food city on the planet. We really were determined to come back,” said Lee Schrager, founder and producer of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival and the New York City Wine & Food Festival. “We didn't want to take a chance of missing a second year and the charities losing out on the opportunity.”

The festival’s newest partner, God’s Love We Deliver, an organization that provides medically tailored meals and nutrition counseling to individuals living with severe illness in New York City, joins Food Bank For New York City, the city’s largest hunger-relief organization, as the beneficiaries of the festival’s proceeds.

After a 13-year-old partnership with Washington, D.C.-based Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry, NYCWFF organizers set out to work with a New York-based charity this year, Schrager explained about the change.

Also, instead of the festival’s familiar locations at Piers 92 and 94—which were shut down after being deemed structurally unsound—the NYCWFF migrated its events to the newly renovated Hudson River Park’s Pier 76, where the Grand Tasting featuring Culinary Demonstrations presented by Liebherr Appliances (a new sponsor) will take place on Saturday and Sunday, as well as Pier 86, home of the Intrepid Museum.

“We had to look for a new home. We've always had an eye on the Intrepid and wanted to do things there,” Schrager said, adding that organizers aimed to host the events “within four or five blocks of one another.” The festival’s signature nighttime events, including the Blue Moon Burger Bash and Fratelli Beretta’s Taste of Italy, will take place at Pier 86, along with a new event: Goldbelly’s Best of New York presented by Bucket Listers.

“We weren't very adventurous this year in creating new events. We were more focused on coming back and doing it correctly than being overly creative,” Schrager said. “I think we didn't want to take chances. We wanted to do the tried-and-true events and be able to sell tickets in a safe environment.”

In addition to the Goldbelly event, other new offerings include the Asian Night Market presented by BEAM Suntory, to be held at the recently opened Margaritaville Resort Times Square, and the Battle of the Boroughs: A Cocktail Showdown presented by BACARDí. The festival’s intimate dinner series is returning with a new sponsor, Air France.

Many brands, especially newer ones such as Della Vite Prosecco and 818 Tequila, see the festival as a chance to get back to live events and in front of consumers.

"As a drinks brand, NYCWFF is one of the most important events in the calendar," said Philippe Roederer, VP of North America for Della Vite Prosecco, which launched in the U.K. in August 2020. "It’s the perfect environment for our premium brand, providing a vital place to network and meet others in the industry—be it new faces or catching up with old friends. It’s also a valuable opportunity to stay up to date with trends and share learnings as we drive our brand forward."

Unlike the indoor space at Pier 94, where the tastings were originally held, Pier 76 is outdoors. Schrager explained that, for an event of this size with about 40,000 expected attendees, it was necessary to hold it outside in order to comply with the city’s COVID-19 restrictions.

As part of the entry requirements, all attendees must complete a health screening survey and provide proof of full vaccination status. The festival has partnered with Health Pass by CLEAR to help facilitate the check-in process.

In addition to the vaccination mandate, Schrager said that “there's a whole difference in how we're serving food, how you're waiting in line, how you're entering, no meet and greets or photo opportunities. Unfortunately, this year, no book signings.”

Even though the festival will be lacking some fan-favorite moments, he stressed the importance of returning to a live, in-person festival—one without any virtual offerings. “I think that people are tired of [virtual]. I think that people are Zoomed out,” he said. “We're happy to be one of the first back in Manhattan showing people how to do it safely and hopefully correctly.”