A Note of Appreciation for Everyone Who Came to Dine Around Downtown

Thanks to everybody who brought their appetites to this year’s Dine Around Downtown — not to mention the 42 neighborhood restaurants who came, saw, fed and had everyone leaving stuffed.

This was the 20th iteration of our famed open-air food festival, held at Fosun Plaza (28 Liberty St.), its home since 2014. And this year’s Dine Around had everything, with available cuisines running the gamut from Brazilian to Korean to Uzbek. With dishes priced at an inflation-friendly $5 to $9, you could take your tastebuds on an international trip for well below the cost of airfare.

Due to the wide array of menus, beautiful weather and brisk sales, this year’s attendance is estimated at more than 12,000 guests. Enough office workers and local residents poured out of their respective cubicles and homes, in fact, that a number of participating kitchens ran out of their selections (so next year, plan to come early!). 

The event’s ongoing zero-waste commitment with partner Common Ground Compost was also a success. All of you pitched in and helped us significantly reduce our landfill waste, as the vast majority of our refuse was compostable and recyclable.

Host Rocco DiSpirito once again put his emcee skills to work, and the Kelly Green Trio provided smooth sounds to pair with those Wagyu meatballs, tacos, sliders of all sorts, samosas, lamb chops, gelato, strudel — the selections were endless. Last but not least, we’d like to extend special thanks to our partner Fosun, as well as our longtime sponsor, the Howard Hughes Corporation.

See below for more pics from Lower Manhattan’s favorite food festival.

photos: Ann-Sophie Fjello-Jensen