Great to be Open Late

The 2009 New York City Wine & Food Festival has begun. The eating extravaganza kicked things off last night with events such as an Alain Ducasse dinner at the James Beard House, Thrillist's Bacon and the Blues party at the Standard Hotel and Chelsea Market After Dark. For the latter, the gourmet food showplace was transformed into party central, with the always rocking Guy Fieri and the glamorous Sandra Lee each presiding over nightclub-worthy event spaces within the mecca of the NYC foodie world. Fieri's "suite" was fit for a bachelor party, complete with food-themed video games, tattooing and shots. Meanwhile, the rest of the market was transformed into a grand-tasting space, with purveyors from Eleni's to Chelsea Wine Vault throwing open their doors to happy guests eager to sample anything and everything.

Filled with energy (and ensuring that no reveler went home hungry or thirsty), Chelsea Market After Dark was a dynamic and delicious start to what promises to be a truly fantastic food weekend.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away, at the Standard Hotel, Thrillist hosted the Bacon and the Blues party, where worries about cholesterol were checked at the door. The night was attended by chefs like The Mott's Brian Murphy (left), among others. For more pics from that party, including pork sliders from Gansevoort 69, click here.

Next up: tonight's big Burger Bash by the Brooklyn Bridge. (Say that ten times fast.)