{"id":361886,"date":"2026-10-01T14:58:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T14:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/361886\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T14:58:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T14:58:12","slug":"new-york-city-wine-food-festival-celebrates-its-19th-anniversary-at-seaport-this-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/361886\/","title":{"rendered":"New York City Wine & Food Festival celebrates its 19th anniversary at Seaport this fall"},"content":{"rendered":"

Presented by Invesco QQQ<\/a>, NYCWFF will take place at The Seaport<\/a> in Lower Manhattan from Oct. 15-18, bringing together over 50 events across four days, from signature tastings and one-night-only dinners to late-night celebrations.<\/p>\n

The festival\u2019s \u201csnowbird sister,\u201d the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, was held earlier this year in February. However, festival founder Lee Schrager says that New York presents its own unique challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201c[New York has] the greatest chefs in the world,\u201d Schrager said. \u201cI think I have to work a lot harder in New York. And when you work harder, I think you just appreciate it more at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s festival will feature a range of \u201cnew collaborations and experiences\u201d alongside \u201clongtime NYCWFF favorites,\u201d according to the festival\u2019s press release. Among them is the city\u2019s biggest burger battle, led by Rachael Ray and special guest co-host Bert Kreischer.<\/p>\n

Several longtime festival events will also return, including Oyster Bash, presented by Modelo and hosted by Andrew Zimmern, and Tacos & Tequila, hosted by Aar\u00f3n S\u00e1nchez.<\/p>\n

\"Attendees<\/a>Attendees pose for a photo at the Asian Night Market hosted by Padma Lakshmi and Jean-Georges Vongerichten during the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival presented by Invesco QQQ on October 16, 2025 in New York City.(Photo by Jeff Schear\/Getty Images for NYCWFF)<\/p>\n

Also returning is the festival\u2019s beloved Best of the Best event, where top-tier chefs showcase signature dishes. This year, Mary Attea, executive chef of New York City\u2019s high-end restaurant The Musket Room, will be among the participating chefs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to step outside of the restaurant for a little bit,\u201d Attea said. \u201cWe work so hard to showcase what we do on the property, so when we get a chance to bring a taste of The Musket Room\u2026out to the people and introduce ourselves to a new audience, it\u2019s always great.\u201d<\/p>\n

A James Beard Award nominee, Attea will present a vegan dish at this year\u2019s Best of the Best event, giving guests the chance to experience something outside of the traditional meat- and seafood-focused festival.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need some diversity in the food,\u201d Attea said. \u201cI like doing that because I feel like when I see people, they go like, \u2018Oh, this is vegan. Oh, this is delicious.\u2019 It makes me excited because I\u2019m like, yeah, you can enjoy anything as long as it\u2019s in the hands of a good chef.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schrager shares Attea\u2019s philosophy of keeping the festival approachable while still giving chefs room to showcase their creativity.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI always say, be true to what you are,\u201d Schrager said. \u201cDon\u2019t create the craziest burger. Don\u2019t think of the most exotic thing to do at Best of the Best. Think of something that\u2019s a crowd pleaser. That\u2019s what\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Guests<\/a>Guests attend the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival presented by Invesco QQQ \u2013 Southern Glazer\u2019s Wine & Spirits Trade Day hosted by Wine Spectator at Grand Tasting at Brooklyn Army Terminal on October 18, 2024 in New York City.(Photo by Dave Kotinsky\/Getty Images for NYCWFF)<\/p>\n

New to the festival this year is the Norwegian Cruise Line Rooftop Series at Pier 17<\/a>, where guests will not only have incredible views of the Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Bridge, but will also have the opportunity to attend a series of events, including Steak & Whiskey, hosted by Bryan and Michael Voltaggio.<\/p>\n

The festival will also host its first non-alcoholic dinner on Oct. 17 at The Maze NYC, an alcohol-free members club. The dinner will feature James Beard Award-winning chef Jonathon Sawyer and Gautier Coiffard, co-founder of the famed Brooklyn bakery L\u2019Appartement 4F.<\/p>\n

Another alcohol-free event, Morning Buzz, will take place the following day at Pier 17 and will feature Machine Gun Kelly\u2019s 27 Club Coffee. Both events will place greater emphasis on conversation and community rather than alcohol.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that if you want to go out, enjoy good food, I think you should be able to have a meal and not drink if you don\u2019t want to drink. I\u2019m not pushing alcohol. I\u2019m pushing an experience,\u201d Schrager said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"(C)<\/a>(C) Chef Robbie Felice prepares dishes at Asian Bites & Karaoke Nights hosted by Jet Tila presented by Sake ONO part of the United Airlines Series during the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival presented by Invesco QQQ at ASPIRE at One World Observatory on October 18, 2024 in New York City.(Photo by JP Yim\/Getty Images for NYCWFF)<\/p>\n

The festival will close out the evening of Oct. 18 with The Cookout, a celebration of Black culinary excellence presented by Mike\u2019s Amazing and hosted by JJ Johnson and Angela Yee. The event will feature a live performance by Method Man and a special appearance by Whoopi Goldberg.<\/p>\n

Beyond the festival itself, net proceeds from the NYCWFF will support the Event Zero Foundation<\/a> and its commitment to promoting sustainability and environmental responsibility throughout the events industry, as well as the James Beard Foundation<\/a> and its efforts to inspire chefs and the broader culinary community to embrace a new standard of excellence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the past 18 years, NYCWFF has raised more than $15 million in net proceeds to support its charitable initiatives.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s important that we give back to something that chefs are passionate about,\u201d Schrager said. \u201cThere are a million causes\u2026they\u2019re all great causes, but giving back to something that recognizes great talent like Mary [Attea] is important to me, and that\u2019s why I think that chefs participate.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.nycwff.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"(L-R)<\/a>(L-R) Ereka Vetrini, Aisha Rupert, Grossy Pelosi, Jeremy Jacobowitz, Musashi Osaki, Jasmie Musashi, Nadia Caterina Munno and Melba Wilson speak onstage during the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival presented by Invesco QQQ \u2013 FoodieCon\u00ae presented by Fratelli Beretta at Somewhere Nowhere NYC on October 19, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano\/Getty Images for NYCWFF)Photo: Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Presented by Invesco QQQ, NYCWFF will take place at The Seaport in Lower Manhattan from Oct. 15-18, bringing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361887,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6628,9,134439,11,10,134440],"class_list":["post-361886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-food-network","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city-wine-and-food-festival","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-nycwff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}