All Jazzed Up!

Representing several of America's finest cities for jazz (New Orleans, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Kansas City and of course, NYC), the Taste of Jazz event held last night at the Time Warner Center brought out revelers who clearly appreciate a little bit of brass in their music and a bit of kick in their cuisine. Participating chefs Marc Murphy (Landmarc); Missy Robbins (A Voce Columbus); Michael Lomonaco (Porter House); and Masa Takayama (Masa) each created a signature dish to channel the ethos of one of the aforementioned jazz towns. And if Bouchon Bakery's peach cobbler baked with a brown-sugar-and-graham-cracker crust wasn't enough to make you wail, the saxophone sounds of Walter Blanding and his septet took care of that.

The event, the Time Warner Center's first-annual, was held in celebration of Jazz Appreciation Day. Indeed, this is Jazz Appreciation Month, so if you haven't already, break out your Lionel Hampton records (yes, records!) and crank the turntable volume as high as it will go.

For pics from the party, 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!

Hot Time, Summer in the City

Landmarc chef Marc Murphy (left) and a host of others cooked up a storm last night at City Harvest's annual Summer in the City gala, held at the Metropolitan Pavilion. The event, presented by Generation Harvest, the charity's Young Professionals group, featured a walk-around tasting of dishes prepared by the likes of chefs Efraim Nahon (Barbounia), Alex Guarnaschelli (Butter), Leah Cohen (Centro Vinoteca), David Suarez (Rosa Mexicano) and Govind Armmstrong (Table 8 ), among others.

Insider Fact: City Harvest, which delivers unused food from restaurants, grocers, cafeterias and delis to New York's hungriest men and women, feeds 260,000 New Yorkers each week.

All in Good Taste

Lever House, the New York restaurant treasure that looks as though it was lifted from an episode of Mad Men, was positively buzzing tonight, as delectable food and wines were passed—along with a healthy dose of animated conversation—during Share Our Strength's annual New York dinner. Host chef Bradford Thompson was joined in the kitchen by Anita Lo, Terrance Brennan, Jacques Torres, Marc Murphy, Alain Allegretti and Michael Laskonis, all of whom donated their time preparing a sumptuous series of courses (paired with wines donated by Empire Merchants) to titillate the palates of patrons who had paid $1,000 or more per ticket. Patron proceeds, combined with funds raised during silent and live auctions, will be used to further the charity's goal of eradicating childhood hunger in America by 2015. Dubbed "A Tasteful Pursuit," the evening was the kick-off for a series of similar nights that will be held around the country throughout the year, in cities including Palm Beach, Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago. Quoting Mother Teresa, Share Our Strength director Billy Shore expressed why he believes that goal to be attainable: "If you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt—only more love."

For more photos, click here.