This week in Eat Cetera: Our top five favorites from last night's Village Voice Choice Eats tasting, Long Island bakery Pain D'Avignon opens up a retail place, and Paul Sevigny's latest hyped venture, Kenmare, finally opens. more ›

Tickets are on sale for the Village Voice's Choice Eats extravaganza, and considering the recent round of firings at the weekly, it's nice to see they're at least keeping this alive. The event features a wide-ranging array of cuisines from chefs hailing from all five boroughs; curated by the ever-adventurous eater Robert Sietsema and his Voice colleague Sarah DiGregorio, this year's "global cheap-eats summit" looks to be even bigger than last year, which was held at the Puck Building. Now it's moving north to the 69th Armory on Lexington Avenue and 26th Street, and will raise money for Slow Food NYC, a non-profit dedicated to "counteracting the industrialization of our food supply." Last year's smorgasbord sold out in less than three weeks, so don't delay. Your $35 ticket gets you unlimited food and an open bar from 6:30 to 9:30 on March 31st—last year it got a bit cramped toward the end, so if you go, go early. more ›

Last night’s Choice Eats was the event of the season for eaters with tastes as eclectic as the Village Voice food critic Robert Sietsema (who we interviewed yesterday.) The sprawling Puck Building food fest had something for everyone, with over 30 restaurants handpicked by the man who’s eaten everywhere, from Brooklyn cafes specializing in Barbados cuisine and Manhattan’s sole Sri Lankan restaurant to hipster spots slinging Malaysian fare and barbecue. As a DJ spun a selection of world music as diverse as the evening’s menu, even diehard fans of Sietsema's Counter Culture column were heard sheepishly admitting that they’d only eaten at a handful of the restaurants represented. more ›

Since 1993, Robert Sietsema has been eating his way through New York on behalf of the Village Voice; his specialty is shedding light on restaurants and cuisines that may have gone otherwise undetected by a broader audience. Sietsema's approach to the city's sprawling restaurant scene can perhaps best be summed up the titles of two of his books, Secret New York and Good and Cheap Ethnic Eats (now in its third edition). Tonight the Voice will be celebrating Sietsema's adventures in gastronomy with its first ever Choice Eats tasting event at The Puck Building, which will feature over 30 New York City restaurants and cuisines from around the world. Advance tickets for Choice Eats are sold out, but a limited number of $35 tickets will be sold at the door tonight, beginning at 5:30pm. Details here. more ›