The NYC Wine & Food Festival Returns With Live Events and Changes

NEW YORK CITY — The New York City Wine & Food Festival, one of the culinary highlights of the fall, is returning to in-person events this year. But they won't look or operate exactly as they did before the pandemic.

The festival is intended to show off the many and varied flavors of the city and is sponsored by the Food Network and Cooking Channel. This weekend marks its 14th year, after an almost entirely virtual and truncated version of the fest was held in 2020.

What's new this year? For starters, the four-day whirlwind — which runs today through Sunday at venues around the city — will no longer operate from its former hub at Piers 92 and 94. Since those were assessed as structurally unsound, their nexus is now the retooled Pier 76 in Hudson River Park.

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The NYCWFF organizers have cobbled together an ambitious schedule that includes some 65 distinct events at locales sprinkled across the city — including demonstrations slated for Saturday and Sunday at Pier 86, where the Intrepid is berthed.

And yes, the weekend will include those renowned brunches, intimate dinners, parties and stroll-by tastings that patrons fondly recall from the pre-COVID-19 era. But those will look different, too.

Many, including Fratelli Beretta’s Taste of Italy and the Blue Moon Burger Bash, will be held at Pier 86. The newest arrival is the overnight-success restaurant shipping service, Goldbelly, who saw their niche business of delivering restaurant food by mail explode during the pandemic. Their event is called Goldbelly's Best of New York.

Other additions include "The Battle of the Boroughs: A Cocktail Showdown" and an Asian Night Market.

This year, the festival is also embarking on a new partnership with God's Love We Deliver, the city's leading provider of medically tailored meals and nutrition counseling.

Because the organizers intend to focus on safety as much as food, they hope to provide a template for how large-scale gatherings can be organized without becoming super-spreader events. This year, the safety precautions will be simple, but thorough.

For example, tastings this weekend will be outdoors rather than inside, which makes sense when you're expecting a potential 40,000 attendees over four days.

Adjustments have also been made in how patrons will enter each event, how the lines are organized and how tastings are prepared and served. Missing this year: book signings and the familiar meet-and-greet photo opps with chefs, authors and celebrities.

For the complete festival schedule and tickets, see their website.