Tasting India for a Cause: The Varli Food Festival

Varli magazine brings an exclusive, ground-breaking Indian culinary event; The VARLI FOOD FESTIVAL in New York City. This one of a kind, culinary experiences will be held on Thursday, April 7, 2011 at the prestigious Altman Building in the heart of Chelsea in Manhattan.

Featuring over 30 Indian restaurants from New York City and 10 Award Winning Celebrity Chefs, the Varli Food Festival promises to an exciting experience for food lovers.  The event will feature food and dessert tastings from some of the finest Indian restaurants including Tamarind, Devi, Junoon, Pranna, Tulsi and many others along with over a dozen delicious stations of desserts, pastries, wine and liquor.  Wine parings, Full bar, Live music and entertainment, cooking demonstrations by world-renowned celebrity chefs are also part of the Varli Food Festival.

India’s most beloved and famous celebrity chef; Sanjeev Kapoor will also indulge guests with a live cooking show! Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor hosts the popular cooking show “Khana Khazana” and is the winner of many prestigious awards. Other exciting things lined up for the evening include cook-book signing by select chefs, and a Documentary of Indian Cuisines. A silent auction for charity will include a variety of restaurant gift certificates, private cooking classes with the chefs and much more.

Varli magazine has linked up with the Food Bank for New York City and will be donating 10% of the proceeds from ticket sales and 100% of proceeds from cookbook sales and the silent auction to the charity. Tickets are priced at $100 which will include full access to the Varli Food Festival along with a Gift Certificates book worth over $500 in discounts at the participating restaurants.  World renowned celebrity chefs participating in the Varli Food Festival are Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, Floyd Cardoz, Vikas Khanna, Jehangir Mehta (former, runner up on “the Next Iron Chef’) Hemant Mathur, Prasad Chirnomula, Hari Nayak, Maneet Chauhan (former, contestant on ‘The Next Iron Chef’), Walter D’Rozario and Peter Beck.

For a complete list of participating restaurants, please visit www.varlifoodfestival.com/restaurants.php

THE VARLI BRAND: Varli’s mission is to serve as the ultimate guide to Indian dining, and significantly raise awareness and appreciation for Indian cuisine around the world. The goal is to create a fun, interactive environment that promotes Indian dining and also incents people to attend a multi-faceted cultural experience linked to Indian Cuisine while helping the less fortunate (Net proceeds from this festival are going to charity).

The Varli Brand includes: VARLI MAGAZINE, the first publication dedicated to news and reviews on Indian cuisine, the V CARD, a card providing dining discounts and exclusive deals at participating Indian restaurants, and VARLI ONLINE, an interactive website with restaurant reviews, e-magazine, restaurant links and much more.

FOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY: As one of the country's largest food banks, Food Bank for NYC’s mission is to end hunger in New York City by organizing food, information and support for community survival and dignity. The city's major hunger-relief organization works to end food poverty throughout the five boroughs. It is an independent, nonprofit organization now in its 28^th year.  http://www.foodbanknyc.org