Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival Tickets On Sale Monday, June 21st!

- Festival Raises Funds for Food Bank For New York City and Share Our Strength® -

NEW YORK, June 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- WHAT/WHEN: Tickets for the third annual Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival presented by Food & Wine and Travel + Leisure magazines go on sale Monday, June 21st!

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The Festival, which takes place October 7-10, 2010, is hosted by and benefits the Food Bank For New York City and Share Our Strength®.  The third annual event features a one-of-a-kind line-up of chefs, winemakers, culinary personalities, and mixologists – including Restaurant magazine's newly named number one and number three best chefs in the world Rene Redzepi of Denmark's Noma and Heston Blumenthal of England's Fat Duck, plus Peru's Gaston Acurio, Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond, cookbook author and country singer Trisha Yearwood and master mixologists The Tipping Brothers; along with Food Network celebrities Paula Deen, Guy Fieri and Alton Brown among others.  Plus, a variety of new events to complement all of the returning fan-favorites!  

A complete line-up of events for the 2010 Festival is available at www.nycwineandfoodfestival.com.  A taste of new and returning highlights include:

Meatball Madness hosted by Giada De Laurentiis kicks off the weekend with the return of the highly anticipated and hotly contended meatball extravaganza featuring over 20 of New York City's best chefs competing for the People's Choice Award sponsored by Pat LaFrieda Meats!

Grab the whole family and head to The New York Times Building for Milk and Cookies hosted by Martha Stewart with some of Manhattan's favorite cookie bakers.

Tacos & Tequila hosted by Bobby Flay has the makings of another festival tradition with 20 chefs and culinary personalities, including Food Network's Claire Robinson and Marcela Valladolid, putting their own spin on the classic taco.

Experience how the Festival really heats up after the sun goes down at Chelsea Market After Dark presented by Food Network hosted by Alton Brown – a complete takeover of Chelsea Market accented with wines from Georges Duboeuf.

Who more fitting to guide guests through New York City's iconic street food culture than the king of unique food himself - Join Andrew Zimmern as he hosts Carts in the Parc.

The Blue Moon Burger Bash presented by Pat LaFrieda Meats hosted by Rachael Ray returns to the Tobacco Warehouse for the ultimate burger smackdown in the city.  2009 People's Choice Award Winner Josh Capon of Lure Fishbar will be back to defend his title against some of the city's heaviest hitters on the grill.  

Tyler Florence hosts the first annual Ultimate Sandwich Showdown, part of Meatpacking Local presented by The Corcoran Group, in the DeBragga and Spitler Courtyard where guests will feast on New York City's top sandwiches.

Don't confuse your chopstick with the microphone when Iron Chef America's Masaharu Morimoto hosts his first karaoke-themed takeover of the sushi world, Rock& Roll with Morimoto and Friends – A Sushi and Karaoke Soiree, with some of the city's top chefs serving sushi and other fresh seafood bites.

The signature event that started it all in is back, and it will be "SWEETer" than ever with 30 participating restaurants and bakeries presenting their finest confections in la.venue – SWEET hosted by Duff Goldman and Sandra Lee.

Plus, don't miss out on all of the Meatpacking Local events presented by The Corcoran Group as well as master classes, The New York Times "TimesTalks", rare dinner experiences at The James Beard House, wine seminars, food and wine pairing seminars and cocktail clinics presented by Food & Wine and Travel + Leisure, and the grandest of all tasting events – the Grand Tasting presented by ShopRite!

WHERE: The public can begin purchasing tickets at 12:00 AM on Monday, June 21, 2010 online at www.nycwineandfoodfestival.com or beginning at 9:00 AM via telephone at 866.969.2933.

About the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival

The 2010 Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival is produced by Karlitz & Company and Southern Wine & Spirits of New York.  Southern Wine & Spirits of New York is also the exclusive provider of wine and spirits at the Festival.  Hosted by and benefiting the Food Bank For New York City and Share Our Strength®, 100% of the Festival's net proceeds go toward helping these community-based organizations fight hunger.  

About the Food Bank for New York City

Food Bank For New York City recognizes 27 years as the city's major hunger-relief organization working to end food poverty throughout the five boroughs.  As the city's hub for integrated food poverty assistance, the Food Bank tackles the hunger issue on three fronts — emergency food distribution, income support and nutrition education — all strategically guided by its research. Through its network of approximately 1,000 food assistance programs citywide, the Food Bank helps provide 300,000 free meals a day for New Yorkers in need.  The Food Bank's hands-on nutrition education program in the public schools reaches thousands of children, teens and adults. Income support services including food stamps, free tax assistance for the working poor and the Earned Income Tax Credit put millions of dollars back in the pockets of low-income New Yorkers, helping them to achieve greater dignity and independence. Every dollar donated to the Food Bank helps provide five meals to New  Yorkers in need. Learn how you can help at foodbanknyc.org.

About Share Our Strength

Share Our Strength®, a national nonprofit, is ending childhood hunger in America by connecting children with the nutritious food they need to lead healthy, active lives.  Through its No Kid Hungry™ campaign – a national effort to end childhood hunger in America by 2015 – Share Our Strength ensures children in need are enrolled in effective federal nutrition programs, invests in community organizations fighting hunger, teaches families how to cook healthy meals on a budget and builds public-private partnerships to end hunger, both nationally and at the state level.  Working closely with the culinary industry and relying on the strength of its volunteers, Share Our Strength hosts innovative culinary fundraising events and develops pioneering cause marketing campaigns that support No Kid Hungry.  Visit Strength.org to get involved in the No Kid Hungry campaign.

SOURCE 2010 Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival