It just couldn’t have been more perfect. There was sunshine, there was music, there was laughter and there was food, food, food. Taste of Tribeca 2012 was better than ever. In it's eighteenth year, this neighborhood food festival just proved why it's a perennial favorite.

There are less than 2 weeks to go before the biggest culinary outing of the year in Tribeca. Taste of Tribeca is  coming on May 19^th from 11.30-3pm and tickets are on sale online for just $45. This will get you 6 fabulous tastes from some of Tribeca’s best eateries. It’s a great day out in the neighborhood. Gourmelle finds she always meets old friends and makes new ones as she wonders around. It’s also a chance to check out restaurants you’ve been meaning to try.

So much fun and food was had at Sarabeth’s today when ten Taste of Tribeca restaurants served up a sneak peak of the dishes they will offer on the big day May 19th. Gourmelle joined the invited members of the media for the ten course lunch and there were plenty of satisfied sighs as each dish was introduced by the chef who created it.

The line up included both some of the newest entries to the annual food fest and some of the founding members.

The newest treat to be added to the Taste of Tribeca line-up will be served up by Kutsher’s one of the newest restaurants in Tribeca.  The newbie is really an oldie in modern dress.  Zach Kutsher has taken his family’s brand, established in 1907 at their famous country club in the Catskills, and plunked it down with aplomb in Franklin Street. He calls it a “modern Jewish American bistro” which offers a “playful approach to the canon of American Jewish cooking.”

Gourmelle keeps having visitors from out of town. She’s had to start taking reservations and even turned a few hopefuls away. Is this a sign that the economy is on the mend and as a result people are on the move again and ready to spend their hard earned cash on a trip to New York? It certainly seems so in the Gourmelle household. So where to take these eager tourists for a really New York evening right here in the heart of Tribeca? Check the Taste of Tribeca list of restaurants first of course. Result: you’ll be spoilt for choice.

     Taste of Tribeca’s tickets are now on sale online. Just a few clicks from this blog you can take advantage of the early bird special price of $40. They’ll go up to $45 soon and on the day you’ll pay $50.