Taste Of The UWS Returns In May, Will Feature 80 Businesses

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Taste of the Upper West Side, the neighborhood's most anticipated annual food- and drink showcase, will feature more than 80 are businesses for two nights in May, its organizers announced recently.

The festival will hold its "Summer in the City" event on Friday, May 17 and its "Best of the West" event the following night, organizers said. Highlights of this year's festival include a preview of Jacob Hadjigeorgis' new restaurant and the honoring of Dovetail's John Fraser. The festival will be organized by the Columbus Avenue Business Improvement District, which founded Taste of the Upper West Side 11 years ago.

Hadjigeorgis — who owns and operates Jacob's Pickles and Maison Pickle — will debut Lucky Pickle Dumpling Co during "Summer in the City." The event will also feature new businesses such as Zen Taco, Twin Palms, Amelie and Make My Cake as well as longtime Upper West Side staples, organizers said.

Fraser will headline Saturday night's "Best of the West" event with tastings from his Michelin-starred restaurant Dovetail, according to organizers. Forty other restaurants, including The LEOPARD at des Artistes, The Milling Room, Red Farm, Rosa Mexicano and Crave Fishbar, will also participate in the event.

Both events feature an open bar with unlimited wine and spirits and live music.

"This year, we are proud to be promoting two of our own ‘hometown’ heroes, Jacob Hadjigeorgis and John Fraser,” Barbara Adler, executive director of the Columbus Avenue Business Improvement District, said in a statement. "We are constantly amazed at the new and talented chefs and restaurants coming to the Upper West Side. It is wonderful to be able to showcase them at our Taste UWS events, sometimes before their new restaurants have even opened."

Ticket sales have launched and can be found on the festival's website.

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