Taste of Tribeca Returns
Attention, foodies: outdoor food festival Taste of Tribeca returns to Duane Street between Greenwich and Hudson on May 18th from 11.30am to 3pm. Sample signature dishes and regional and international cuisines from Tribeca’s top restaurants at this 30th annual alfresco food festival, where ticket sales benefit art education at local public schools PS 150 and PS 234. Your ticket gets you six dishes, so choose your restaurant booth wisely. Featured eateries include everyone from neighborhood legends (The Odeon, Bubby’s, Walkers) to eternally buzzy joints (One White Street, Tiny’s & The Bar Upstairs, Jungsik), and the festival is produced entirely by parent volunteers from PS 150 and PS 234. Start working up an appetite now and check out what some of our favorite participants will offer at this year’s culinary extravaganza, below.
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This lively and legendary Art Deco-bedecked bistro—and the former stomping ground of Jean-Michel Basquiat, John Belushi, and Andy Warhol, to name a few—has been around since the 1980s. Today, locals continue to come to The Odeon to enjoy carefully poured cocktails, steak tartare, French onion soup, and fabulous vibes. A supporter of Taste of Tribeca since 1994, the perennial hotspot will satisfy your sweet tooth and keep you cool at the festival this year with the Odeon Ice Cream Sandwich: chocolate cake cookies stuffed with vanilla ice cream. Prepare to immediately devour its deliciousness.
The steak is always done right at American Cut, a classic (and massive) steakhouse that opened in 2013 on Greenwich Street. Come here for twists on American classics, like a Chili Lobster and the famed Pastrami Ribeye. Run, don’t walk to order the flavorful latter at this year’s festival. It’s tender, juicy, and served with a side of whole grain mustard potato salad.
Set in a former warehouse space on Franklin Street, this sophisticated Greek taverna (est. 2002) offers a seafood-centric menu that includes calamari, pan-seared scallops with feta mushroom risotto, and a variety of freshly caught, whole fish grilled on charcoal. Stop by Thalassa’s booth for their Seafood Orzo Salad.
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The sprawling and ornate Roxy Bar inside the Roxy Hotel is known as one of Manhattan’s most stylish settings for a cocktail—think classic martinis, live jazz, and exquisite people-watching. Roxy Bar is also known for making a classic, killer burger AKA The Roxy Burger. It’s made with a Pat LaFrieda beef brisket blend, New York cheddar, charred radicchio slaw, and a smokey house sauce, and it’s a Taste of Tribeca must-order.
Originally a pie company, Bubby’s has been serving elevated comfort food for the past thirty-some years to a unique clientele of families by day and a downtown crowd (and occasionally celebrities) by night. Bubby’s various homemade pies and signature buttermilk biscuits will make your eyes roll back in your head. So will their Sullivan County Farms fried chicken and pancakes topped with bourbon maple syrup, which you should order at this year’s festival.
This convivial Southern Italian eatery has been the place to go for Tribeca residents craving an unfussy and delicious bowl of pasta since 2000. Their Taste of Tribeca offering is Fiocchetti di Pere e Taleggio—Taleggio cheese-stuffed pasta with pear. Mangia!
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Opened in 2022, Casa Carmen is an upscale Mexican restaurant that pays homage to internationally acclaimed chef Carmen Ramirez Degollado—it’s run by two of her grandsons. Try Casa Carmen’s to-die-for Tacos de Carnitas at the festival, made with Michoacán pork carnitas, chicharrón, cilantro, and onion.
This neighborhood institution and founding member of Taste of Tribeca has been around long before Tribeca became one of the flashiest zip codes in the world. Outfitted with tin ceilings, flat-screen televisions, and a dark wooden bar, this no-frills tavern’s extensive menu includes cheeseburgers, mac and cheese, steak au poivre, and beers on tap. This year, Walker’s is bringing their mouthwatering-inducing BBQ Pulled Pork with cole slaw and watermelon to the festival.
This Tribeca newcomer specializes in Cajun and Creole cooking, and its name comes from filé powder, the ground sassafras thickener often used for making gumbo. Chef Eric McCree is bringing a taste of the South to Taste of Tribeca and will be serving up his signature Chicken & Andouille Sausage Gumbo.
WORDS Alex Catarinella
PHOTOGRAPHY tasteoftribeca.com