Village Voice Bringing 'Choice Eats' To New York City March 19

For the past five years, the Village Voice has taken over the armory on Lexington Avenue in New York's Upper East Side and converted it, for one night only, into the city's top dining destination. The stops are pulled out, hungry gourmands pile in, and the cavernous space becomes a gastronomic wonderland: The Village Voice Choice Eats Festival.

This year's gathering, which will be taking place March 19, appears primed to be one for the ages, with more than 50 restaurants, hand-picked by Village Voice food critics Robert Sietsema and Tejal Rao, participating. The list is too long to reproduce here, but it includes restaurants from all over the city, focusing on an incredibly wide variety of food. Everything from Allswell, David's Brisket House, and The Kati Roll Company to Littleneck, Peppa's Jerk Chicken, and Nom Wah Tea Parlor will be represented, along with just about every variety of food in between.

As opposed to other citywide food festivals, which either focus on one specific type of food (barbecue, for example) or only highlight top restaurants, this one is incredibly democratic in that the organizers purposefully seek out the "hidden gems" of the city and bring them to the forefront. Styles of food will include Vietnamese, Italian, Uzbekistani, Brazilian, Cambodian, Russian, Tunisian, and Cajun/Creole, and all the food will be paired with complimentary beer, wine, and cocktails.

Tickets are sold out, but stay tuned for a full Daily Meal recap!