If you've got an appetite and some money to burn this weekend, why not eat your way through the neighborhood at the 6th annual New Taste of the Upper West Side. Two nights of bacchanalian revelry unfold under an enormous tent on Columbus Avenue, with a dizzying selection of interesting bites from some of the area's celebrated chefs with some new talent mixed in. There's also a ridiculous amount of booze, if you're into that kind of thing.
Tonight, Travel Channel's competitive eater Adam Richman hosts Comfort Classics, which boasts 40 UWS chefs preparing "soul-satisfying classics" and some riffs on traditional comfort food. It all leads up to the big show on Saturday night, Best of the West, hosted by Top Chef judge Gail Simmons. Unhampered by any themes, chefs get free reign to present inspired fare to "tantalize, stimulate and motivate even the most discerning palates." Basically, both nights are an opportunity to test the limits of your pants buttons.
Both nights also include some musical entertainment, with the 17-piece New York Big Band showing up Saturday to soundtrack your drunken escapades. Tickets for tonight's raucous soiree go for $105 and tickets for Saturday's feeding frenzy for $135. Before you cry price gouging, your ticket is all inclusive, plus net proceeds from all the festivities benefit the Columbus Avenue Streetscape Project, which seeks to beautify Columbus between 76th and 77th.
