Taste Of The Upper West Side's "Best Of The West" Preview

The Upper West Side of Manhattan is home to some of the city's best and most venerable restaurants, and more than 40 of those restaurants will be showcasing their cuisine on Saturday, May 31st at the "Best of the West," the flagship event of the New Taste of the Upper West Side.

At the Ford-sponsored event, which will begin at 7 pm under a tent on Columbus Avenue between West 76th and 77th Streets (6 PM for VIPs), the chefs from some of the area's finest restaurants will be serving bites of some of their signature dishes, washed down with wine and cocktails. Here's a preview of what to expect:

Boulud Sud
Chef: Travis Swikard
Item: Grilled beef kofte, pine nuts, tahini, scallion salad

Calle Ocho
Chef: Rodney Mitchell
Item: Sweet corn arepas served with house cured salmon, topped with salmon caviar and finished with house made crema nata

Lincoln Ristorante
Chef: Jonathan Benno
Item: Muffuletta: mortadella, salami, prosciutto cotto, provolone, olive salad on capizza

Magnolia Bakery
Chef: Bobbie Lloyd
Item: Bite size coconut cream pie, strawberry rhubarb crisp, and ice cream sandwiches: 
Lemon Bar – vanilla ice cream with lemon cream and candied lemon peel 
Red Velvet – vanilla ice cream and Brownie bar with vanilla ice cream

Shake Shack Upper West Side 
Chef: Shake Shack Team
Item: MeisterShack - Cheeseburger topped with crispy ale-marinated shallots and Shack Sauce and fromage blanc; strawberry frozen custard

The event will be hosted by New York Knicks broadcaster and Today Show contributor Jill Martin, and chef Daniel Boulud will be honored. Tickets are available here; general admission tickets are selling for $135 and VIP tickets (which give you one hour of early access) are on sale for $225.