More Than He Can Chew?

Chef Spike Mendelsohn makes a dent in a chocolate-covered confection from Street Street Desserts at the New York City Wine & Food Festival this weekend. An ofttime champ of the festival's Burger Bash competition, Mendelsohn may have been licking his wounds after top honors on Friday night went to Shake Shack, and the People's Choice Award went to Bobby Flay. Photo by Seth Browarnik/WorldRedEye.com

The Real Fun Happens After Dark

The NYC Wine & Food Festival gets off to a strong start, with Chelsea Market After Dark bringing out the city's food intelligensia. Among last night's highlights: The chocolatey goodness cooked up by Jacques Torres (below). For slideshow, click here.

That's All, Folks! (Until Miami.)

Lee Schrager (center), director of the New York City Wine & Food Festival, called the weekend a wrap last night, with a rollicking after-party for chefs and friends of the festival at the Garden Rooms at the Standard Hotel. Boldface foodies from Giada Di Laurentiis to Marc Murphy, Daniel Boulud, Cesare Casella and Marco Canora turned up to toast the completion of a successful (and only second) outing for the food event. With Ultimat vodka flowing and savories and desserts aplenty, the élite of the food world enjoyed the chance to kick back and relax after a wonderfully long weekend of eating, drinking, cooking and learning. The revelers even gave ping-pong a whirl, with Burger Bash victor Spike Mendelsohn showing off his table tennis skills.

For pics from last night's party, click here.

And with that, all eyes are now on Miami, where the South Beach Wine & Food Festival takes place next February. Until then, it's diet time!

Chance of Meatballs: 100-Percent

The New York City Wine & Food Festival called it a wrap last night, with the Meatball Madness competition marking the final event of the weekend-long bacchanal. Chefs from Cesare Casella to Nicolina "Mama" DiSpirito offered eager carnivores their varied take on the classic meatball. In a blind tasting overseen by Giada Di Laurentis, and with tasters Frank Bruni (ex of the New York Times) and Gail Simmons on hand, the top prize went to Andrew Carmellini, whose lamb meatballs won over the judges for their tender juciness.

If you weren't in on last night's fun, never fret. You can still try Carmellini's meatballs. Just head on down to Locanda Verde, his acclaimed TriBeCa eatery, and tell them you're ready to see what all the madness was all about.

Where to Eat Now

Travel & Leisure editor Nilou Motamed (second from right) led a NYCW&FF panel discussion today that delved into the best places to eat in New York right now, along with a look at dining trends on the horizon. The gourmet burger craze is here to stay, as is southern barbecue, according to the esteemed panel of foodies. Southerner Ted Lee (far right) says that the beauty of barbecue in New York is that it's done with so many different styles. (He included Hill Country and Blue Smoke as examples.) Restaurateur Drew Nieporent (not pictured) declined to name trends, saying that he doesn't follow them, as Lee chimed back in that he sees restaurant-made cheeses and tofus as an emerging menu feature.

Anya von Bremzen (third from left) carried the torch for her home borough of Queens, while Lee sounded the cry for great eating in Brooklyn, citing Egg, in Williamsburg, among his picks. Other restos noted as faves by the panel (which also included Le Bernadin chef Eric Ripert, not pictured, and Top Chef's Gail Simmons, second from left) included Sushi Yasuda, DBGB (a favorite late-night hangout of Ripert's), Masa and Marea.

In an unexpected but fun twist for a food event, the panel was held in the theater at the Bumble+Bumble hair salon, making life very easy for anyone in need of a touch-up or a trim before venturing out to try one of the eateries recommended by the panel.

Pictured at far left, though not a panelist, is Ted Lee's brother, collaborator and cookbook partner, Matt Lee.

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.)

Recipe for Special Occasion

Take a talented cookbook author, a food-festival impressario, a pair of highly regarded Food Network stars and a country western band, gather them together in a Texas barbecue restaurant in Manhattan and what have you got? A recipe for a truly special occasion. Which is all the more ironic, because the reason for the alignment of these winning ingredients was the launch of a cookbook subtitled Recipes for Everyday Occasions.

Thrown by New York Wine & Food Festival organizer extraordiniare Lee Schrager, the party honored his good friend Katie Lee, whose book is the latest in her Comfort Table series. In addition to Food Network stars Giada De Laurentiis and Guy Fieri, a passel of journalists, friends and publicists popped in to the Flatiron district resto Hill Country to congratulate the always-gracious Lee and to sample recipes from her book, including such feel-good foods as sliders, macaroni and cheese and super-chocolatey brownies. Suffice it to say, there were many happy faces in the room, helped no doubt by the copious and yes, comforting cuisine.

For more pics of the party, click here.