Yesterday approximately 2,000 ravenous foodies converged under a massive tent across the street from Shake Shack on Columbus and 77th Street for the "Best of the West" tasting, part of the "New" Taste of the Upper West Side. People paid $115 a pop for unlimited samples of all the neighborhood's best restaurants, from Dovetail to Ocean Grille to (naturally) Shake Shack, which dished out their classic hamburgers and root beer custard floats. Here are our five favorites, for which we would schlep to the Upper West Side any day. An honorable mention goes to Whole Foods, which appeared to be the only purveyor serving samples on biodegradable plates—all the others used plastic, which didn't seem to be recycled and probably caused thousands of Upper West Siders to supress even more liberal guilt than usual. more ›

Opera singer Gabriela Pochinki, whose loud cellphone speakerphone conversation at an Upper West Side restaurant led to a row last week, is relieved that she can avoid jail if she stays out of trouble. So now she's telling the Post and the Daily News why she got so carried away on the phone (hint, it was because of Michael Jackson!). more ›

A sexy South American opera singer who behaved like a real diva in an Upper West Side restaurant is due in court today to face charges of trespassing, theft of service, and disorderly conduct. It all started when diners at restaurant Nice Matin complained that soprano Gabriela Pochinki was carrying on a noisy cell phone conversation via speakerphone. And when a manager had the nerve to tell Pochinki—a Fulbright scholar who was the toast of Vienna for her portrayal of Maria in West Side Story—to pipe down, she got quite an earful! more ›

The experts at the Italian Wine Merchants can show you how to build up your wine collection beyond those bottles that were left over from your last party. During the course of the afternoon, you'll taste eight Italian wines including vintage Barolo, Brunello, Super-Tuscans, and more while sampling assorted antipasti. $125 per person. Reservations required and can be made online or by calling 212-473-2323 x106. 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., Italian Wine Merchants, 108 East 16th Street. more ›

This week in the Times, Bruni goes to Suba, awards the restaurant two stars. “While it has definite shortcomings and at least a third of the dishes don’t measure up to the others, the best of the food here is distinctive and exciting. In a few instances it’s even dazzling,” he says. more ›

Join Tuscan native Chef Cesare Casella and his team at Maremma as they make special dishes featuring the traditional Tuscan beef -- Chianina (pronounced kee-a-nee-na). Chef Casella raises his herd of Chianina at Thanksgiving Farm in the Catskills regions of upstate New York. 228 West 10th Street, 212.645.0200. more ›

Today's the day for Beaujolais. As we learned last year, Beaujolais Nouveau is a "light bodied, fruity, easy-to-drink red wine made from the Gamay grape" and it comes out every year on the third Thursday of November -- which is today, conveniently. Many, many wine shops are offering tastings. Visit LocalWineEvents.com to find a tasting in your neck of the woods tonight, this weekend, or sometime next week. more ›

- Paris Commune, the West Village eatery that moved into new space at 99 Bank Street last year, is celebrating its anniversary by opening the Rouge Wine Bar. Quaff wines from France, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Chile while you wait for a table upstairs, or finish off your night by sipping on a glass of cognac while you gaze at the original fresco covering two walls. Look closely and you might see Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld, and a certain editor of Vogue among the romantic couples, sulky gamines, and Paris Commune regulars worked into the mural. Rouge Wine Bar at Paris Commune, 99 Bank Street, the corner of Bank Street and Greenwich Street, 212-929-0509. more ›

Nice Matin's Croque Monsieur
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