The First-Ever 'Broadway Tastes' Was A Hit

The New York City's Wine and Food Festival partnered with MasterCard and Variety Magazine to host the first-ever "Broadway Tastes." At this event, MasterCard cardholders were given the opportunity to experience the best sounds, sights, and tastes of their favorite Broadway productions. The brunch, held Sunday, Oct. 16, at Metropolitan West in Manhattan, New York City, promoted MasterCard's new "priceless platform," in which cardholders can take part in exclusive and specially curated experiences that money can't buy.

Broadway Tastes was indeed "priceless." Chefs from around the city were tasked with creating a multi-course brunch menu in which each dish was inspired by a different Broadway production. Aladdin, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Chicago, The Lion King, Something Rotten, and many more were represented. Actual cast members were in attendance, too, serving and mingling with the guests (despite the fact that many of them had Sunday matinees later that day!).

Some of the more notable dishes included a "Shack-cago Dog," a breakfast empanada with Cuban sofrito aioli by Victor's Cafe; and an absolutely jaw-dropping chocolate babka from Breads Bakery that was baked in an almost identical likeness to the Lion King logo in the shape of a lion's head.

And what would an afternoon of Broadway-inspired dishes have been without some Broadway-inspired surprises? The audience was treated to not one, not two, but five different Broadway performances from Beautiful, Chicago, and Something Rotten.

Broadway veterans Neil Patrick Harris and his husband, David Burtka, emceed the event spectacularly and revealed that more than $9.5 million had been raised in the fight against hunger since the New York City's Wine and Food Festival inception nine years ago.