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!

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.

Happy Birthday, Lee!

When you're Lee Schrager, how else would you want to celebrate your birthday but with a special dinner and after-party at the studios of the Food Network? The beloved ringleader of the successful South Beach Wine and Food Festival and the nascent New York Food and Wine Festival welcomed the Big 5-0 surrounded by a mob of friends and needless to say, culinary talent, camaraderie and, of course, a chocolate cake, were in ample evidence.

For more photos, click here.

How Sweet it Was!

Last Saturday night, after a full schedule of eating par excellence, it was only fitting that New York's fooderati finally got their glucose on. In connection with the first-ever New York City Wine & Food Festival, dessert-lovers in the know descended on the West Chelsea event hot-spot la.venue (a sprawling, cavernous and gorgeous space, in case you have not yet had the pleasure) for Sweet, a showcase of confections prepared by forty-five of the city's most talented pasty chefs. Among the masters whose sugary work was available in more than ample quantity were Dominique Ansel (Daniel); Marc Aumont and Patrick Clark (The Modern); Pauline Balboa (Kyotofu); Jansen Chan (Oceana); John Fraser and Vera Tong (Dovetail); Heather Fratangelo (Spigolo); Brooks Headley (Del Posto); Johnny Iuzzini (Jean Georges); Michael Laiskonis (Le Bernardin); Richard Leach (Park Avenue Autumn); John Miele (Eighty One); Nancy Olson (Gramercy Tavern); Pichet Ong (P*ONG); François Payard (Payard Bistro); and Alex Stupak (WD-50). Sweet's invite promised "the greatest collection of sweets ever found in one location," and it did not disappoint. The delicious description further enticed with teasings of "frosted layer cakes with filling flavors you’ll love; dark chocolates infused with exotic spices that will ruin you for everyday candy bars; cookies crafted from the finest ingredients and resembling works of art; and ice-cream so rich and creamy you will dream about it for days." Indeed, it's been four days since Sweet and we're still dreaming. And dreaming. The goodie-laden evening was sponsored by Ferrero Chocolates, Perrier Jouët Champagne and Absolut Vodka. An after-party, sponsored by the Macy's Culinary Council, was held at Xchange next door. Congratulations to Lee Schrager, the mastermind who brought the the Wine & Food Festival to New York and to all of his team who helped make the inaugural event such a resounding success. We're already dieting in preparation for next year's extravaganza. In the meantime, bring on Miami Beach!

For more photos, click here.