As the weather heats up here in Abu Dhabi (we're already at above 100F on May 1!), I can't help but start the countdown to my August trip to New York City. Even though New York will be hot and sticky then too, it'll be considerably cooler than Abu Dhabi. And though I love the Lebanese and Indian restaurants that are my staple here, I can't wait to break out of the current rut and eat at some of my favorite restaurants in New York.

Just as the warmer temps of May usher in alfresco dining in New York City, the annual Taste of Tribeca Food Festival brings the best of the Lower Manhattan neighborhood's restaurants to the streets. Now in its 18th year, the one-day culinary street fair raises funds to support arts and enrichment programs for public schools in the area. One ticket buys six tastes from participating restaurants, many of which are Purple Passport favorites. 

Meatballs are a hot item at the festival this year: you can sample duck meatballs from champagne bar The Bubble Lounge and lamb meatballs with pecorino from Locanda Verde (Robert DeNiro's Italian restaurant in The Greenwich Hotel). For some unique world flavors, Peruvian-Japanese Nobu New York is offering up chicken karange with green mango-jicama slaw, while German-Austrian Blaue Gans is contributing elderflower sabayon with strawberry and pieplant. Bouley (David Bouley's flagship) and the Tribeca Grand hotel are holding out with "Chef's Surprises." The slick Smyth Tribeca hotel is also getting in on the fun; its brasserie Plein Sud is serving pork and hazelnut rillettes on mini brioche with tomato jam. Don't forget dessert: red velvet cake from Billy's Bakery, rhubarb and apple brown betty from comfort food purveyor Bubby's, and ice cream cones from The Odeon brasserie.

While you're in the neighborhood, be sure to pay a visit to some of our other Tribeca picks. If you have any room in your tummy post-festival (unlikely...but then again you're just getting six "tastes"), the chic Chinese fare at Mr. Chow is definitely worth a trip. If not, end the day with some of the neighborhood's fabulous nightlife, whether it's a microbrew from industrial-cool bar anotheroom, live music at Tokyo jazz bar B Flat, a Far Eastern concoction from sultry lounge Macao Trading Co., or a classic cocktail at sophisticated spirits lounge Brandy Library. They're all great ways to toast Tribeca!

To find all of these Tribeca picks, go to our New York Guide, click "View Full Screen" above the map of New York, type "Tribeca" into the "Center on Address" field, and then zoom in to get a close-up of the neighborhood. 

The arrival of May has us itching for upcoming summer travels and daydreaming about some of our favorite global destinations. But we don't just keep those images in our mind's eye; as we travel around the world, we also make sure to capture the best of what we see in photo and video. That's why we launched our YouTube channel, to give you a glimpse of  the world's most exciting cities in moving pictures. To date, we have collected videos on London, Paris, and Palm Beach, and we're poised to add new cities soon. We invite you to subscribe for the latest updates on future releases!