Tickets for the fifth 2012  NYC Wine & Food Festival October 11 – 14, 2012, are now on sale. The event is sponsored by Food Network and presented by Food & Wine. One hundred percent of the proceeds benefit the Food Bank For New York City and Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign. To date, the Festival has raised over $5 million to help fight hunger.

The kickoff party — a twist on the signature dessert party — is on October 12 at 82 Mercer in SoHo. Other festival highlights include Bobby Flay’s Tacos & Tequila, Giada De Laurentiis’s Meatball Madness; Rachael Ray’s Blue Moon Burger Bash; “On The Chopping Block: A Roast of Anthony Bourdain” hosted by Mario Batali and Shake & Bake hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, Art Smith and guest DJ Questlov.

Additional wine dinners in the Festival Dinner Series pay tribute to not only the Festival’s fifth year but also some of the finest chefs in the industry. The line-up includes:

• David Bouley’s Alumni Dinner with Kerry Heffernan, Dan Silverman, Anita Lo, George Mendes, Saul Bolton, Marco Moriera, Brian Bistrong, David Ott, Amy Scherber, Bill Yosses, Galen Zamarra and Dan Barber
• Nathan Myhrvold’s Dinner to End All Dinner’s with Mads Refslund, Alex Stupak and Maxime Bilet
• Standard Grill Dinner hosted by Dan Silverman and The North Fork Table & Inn’s Gerry Hayden and Claudia Fleming at The Standard Hotel, the Festival’s headquarter hotel
• April Bloomfield with Bill Telepan: A Girl and Her Pig Dinner
• Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Dinner
• Charles Phan’s Slanted Door Dinner
• . . . and much more!

Eat. Drink. End Hunger.  Buy tickets at  www.nycwff.org or by calling 866.969.2933 (phone sales open 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM EST).