There’s just a day to go until Taste of Tribeca 2012. Tickets are available online today and at the event tomorrow 11.30 to 3pm. On Friday it was time for last minute details and reminders for all the valiant volunteers who keep Taste of Tribeca running like clockwork. You won’t be able to miss them on Saturday, they’re the army of smiling faces in lime green t-shirts. They will be selling tickets, helping restaurants hand out tastes, clearing away trash among a myriad of tasks.  Many of them will have been there since crack of dawn setting the whole thing up. 

Leading the charge are the tireless co-chairs Faith Paris and Hope Flamm, parents at P.S.234 and P.S.150 respectively. You’d think they had nothing else to do with their time (Gourmelle knows this is not true) for the hours they’ve devoted to making Taste of Tribeca 2012 better than ever.

Now while Taste of Tribeca is primarily about eating there are some other fun things going on just in case you just can’t partake of one more morsel. Don’t miss the Greenmarket Chefs Challenge Cook off. Chef John Sierp from M1-5 restaurant will go head to head with Chef Russell Moss of 92Y Café. They’ll shop at the market for the ingredients and then compete to see whose surprise dish is the favorite. There’s fabulous line-up of judges including John Franco, the former New York Mets pitcher and a P.S. 234 parent and Michelle Park, the restaurant reporter with NY1. The whole event will be MC’d by ABC Nightline’s Bill Weir.

After that bit of celebrity spotting, you might find your kids are getting a teeny bit restless. Help is at hand in the Kids Zone where the line-up of attractions includes Looney Lenny the clown, The Story Pirates, and cup cake decorating with Tastebuds. Kids can also transform themselves into their fantasy alter egos with face and nail painting and color hair spray.

There is so much to see and do and, yes, eat so it really helps to have the map of the whole event with you. You can download it here.

And make special note of the drinks stands- Gourmelle can tell you Taste of Tribeca can be thirsty work. There are more choices of drinks than ever this year with 8 different beverages on offer all priced a $2 each. The drinks have all been donated by our kind sponsors and all the money will go to P.S.234 and P.S.150, so resist the urge to buy your drinks elsewhere. Wat-ahh and Icelandic Glacial water have been part of Taste for years but we are also pleased to welcome Bruce Cost Ginger Ale, Fizzy Lizzy, GuS Grown Up soda, Honeydrop Beverages, Plan Tea Organic, and V blast.

Another group of volunteers worth a mention are the students from Stuyvesant High School  (in the neighborhood just across West St) who act as runners bringing food to those guests who bought special tables. They will be wearing orange T-shirts and will be dashing around with trays.  It’s so great to see the older students helping out their younger counterparts by volunteering at this event.

And there’s still more. Be sure to check out the amazing raffle run by our local Stribling real estate agent and former Taste of Tribeca Co-Chair Sean Turner. Bring your Taste ticket to the Stribling table and you’ll have a chance to win a $200 gift certificate to a Tribeca restaurant of your choice – and after touring Taste of Tribeca you will certainly have a tough time deciding which delicious eatery to go for.