To look at this small Manhattan eatery, you'd never make the connection. Tucked in the atrium of the IBM building on the corner of Madison Avenue and E 56th Street, Obika seems like just another dine-and-dash joint to service the suited masses within a three-block radius. To judge this shop on a glance alone, however, would be a grievous error. In reality, its clientele consists of a mix of ardent regulars and tourists (mostly from Europe) who are committed to the magic made at this mozzarella bar. The customers' zeal was evident by their presence alone on May 21, 2009, when Obika catered the latest De La Concha cigar dinner.

Anthony Fauci, a partner in the restaurant, represented Obika at the cigar event, held in the store where he and his brother, James, have been regulars for as long as anyone can remember. In a new twist on what has become a regular occurrence for the Manhattan tobacconist, Obika provided a mozzarella and pasta tasting menu designed to complement the Camacho cigars featured.

The event was standing room only, as Obika took over the shop – lining the counters for food preparation and consumption. Instead of opting for traditional sit-down meals, store general manager Ron Melendi opted for a more fluid approach, in which guests could stand, sit at a boardroom style table at the front of the store or eat on available counters.

Stubbs Winery in Petaluma, California, one of Marin's first organic vineyards, is hosting the Schools for Kabul Second Annual Midsummer Party on June 20. The event includes great food, wine, dancing and an auction to benefit for Schools for Kabul, a student-run fundraising group supporting educational development projects in Afghanistan. The rustic diinner will include a spit-roasted pig and local wines from Stubbs Vineyard, Turley Wine Cellars, Messina Vineyards. The auction lots include wines, classes and gift certificates to great restaurants. Tickets are $60 in advance for the outdoor event.

Canyon Ranch Miami Beach is a luxury hotel and spa which offers guests a "total wellness experience." We caught up with them recently when they came to New York to encourage us all to come down there and relax.

The New York event included hand massages, organic french toast, and even an impromptu fitness class! We learned about their fabulous skincare line, their "Art of Eating" events where you meet with a chef, a nutritionist, and a behavioral therapist to eat and talk about eating, and more.

Click through our gallery to see what Canyon Ranch Miami Beach brought to the Big Apple, and click here to visit their website. Their introductory rates start at just $350!

Isn't that a gorgeous motorcycle? I was overjoyed to get a sneak peek at the all-new Ducati Streetfighter at the unveiling party last week! Before the show started, I headed backstage to the loading dock to check it out, and they even let me sit on it.

The event was crazy. Half-naked women and boxers six inches from your face-crazy. Here's what happened, in pictures. More photos of the great motorcycles to come!

If you like beef, wine and country music, have we got an event for you. The Best Of Country, Beef and Wine Tasting Festival on July 14 in Bridgeport, California offers a country-style feast Paso Robles wines and country entertainment. The event takes place at the Bridgeport Ranch Barns & Terrace, an outdoor entertainment venue. The fare from local restaurants will be paired with wines from the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance and the Hunewill Ranch Bakery will be featuring country style desserts also paired with Paso Robles wines. Tickets are $65 each and include a souvenir Riedel wine glass and "The Best Of" recipe book which features recipes and wine pairing suggestions from the evening's festivities.

\Ontario gets its own big wine auction with the inaugural Niagara Wine Auction on June 22 - 24, 2007. The auction even has its own celebrity host, new winemaker Dan Aykroyd. Proceeds from the event will benefit SickKids Foundation and St. Catharines General Hospital Foundation. The event is modeled after the Napa Valley and Washington State events and will include an opening reception, winemaker dinners, a garden party, live and silent auctions and a black tie gala. One ticket to the winemakers dinner, garden party and gala dinner costs $1,000 and a table for ten at the gala start at $5,000.

Another pairing of good wines and good causes, the Tour de Champagne has been a Washington D.C. annual event for eight years. Now the event has expanded to seven more cities: Atlanta, Houston, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, New York and Miami. The Tour de Champagne is an evening of 70 champagnes from over 20 producers paired with fine foods from local chefs. The event also features a silent auction to benefit a local non-profit organization. General-admission tour tickets are $100 and VIP tickets, which are $135, include admission to a hospitality suite, a gift bag and food treats, as well as a tasting of cognacs. The event at the Hotel Derek in Houston is being held tonight.

[via Houston Chronicle]

This summer, the Sonoma Country Showcase Weekend of Wine & Food on July 12-15 offers more than just the chance to taste great wines. They have created four deluxe weekend packages to add to your experience. You have a choice of the Mayacama Golf Experience at the private Mayacama Golf Club , Kenwood Spa Experience at the Kenwood Inn & Spa, Wine Camp Safari Experience among the 400 wild African animals at Safari West Wildlife Preserve, and the Winery Experience, offering lodging among the vineyards and behind-the-scenes access at private winery guest houses. Each package is limited to between 6 and 30 couples and includes VIP tickets to all Showcase events.

The weekend showcase includes a Friday night gala at the Kendall-Jackson Wine Center which will feature the favorite recipes of six local wine families interpreted by six local chefs. Saturday and Sunday will feature the Taste of Sonoma will be hosted by the Gallo Family at beautiful MacMurray Ranch. More than 100 wineries and 50 chefs will present their wines and food, and there will be an onsite Taste of Sonoma Wine Shop so you can buy what you just tasted. A chef competition and seminars, wine education classes, an interactive vineyard tour and tasting and winery lunches and dinners are also available. A VIP all-access ticket that includes VIP tickets to all events, a private winery tour,VIP tastings, on-site concierge service and a gift basket sells for $900. The individual wine weekend packages start at $2500 per couple.

The lots have been announced for the 2007 Naples Winter Wine Festival, one of the poshest auction events each year, and as usual they are spectacular. Up for bid are lots that include a private tour of the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum, dinner with Robert Redford, a walk-on role on the hit TV show Grey's Anatomy, the chance to dine with Martha Stewart, and many lots of rare vintages and winery tours. There are 71 lots total and the profits benefit underprivileged and at-risk children. And of course, it wouldn't be a Naples auction without pricey cars. This year's auction will showcase the first new Rolls-Royce Convertible to be delivered to a customer in North America, a 2007 Bentley Continental Grand Touring Convertible, an all-new 2008 Lexus LS 600h L hybrid luxury sedan; and a 2007 Naples Winter Wine Festival Maserati Quattroporte will be raffled off. The three-day event will be held Jan. 26-28 in Naples, Florida and raised $12.2 million last year. It is a magnet for celebs and those with the money to bid on these amazing items. This year's tickets are $7,500 per couple and $20,000 for reserved seating at the same vintner dinner for two couples.

[via Naples News]

The James Beard Foundation is hosting a benefit, Spain's 10 Cocina de Vanguardia, on October 12th in New York that will give guests a chance to experience the cooking of the chefs at the forefront of Spanish cuisine. The evening will include tapas, wine and sherry tastings and a live and silent auction. Some of the auction packages will include a private tapas party for 24 prepared by chef José Andrés, a gourmet tour of Spain for two, a month-long opportunity to learn Spanish and work in the kitchens of three of Spain's top chefs (Adrià, Arzak, and Berasategui) and an all-expenses paid luxury trip for two to Valencia for the America's Cup. Seats are $1000 per person or a group of eight can be seated at a table with Ferran Adrià, Juan Mari Arzak, or Martín Berasategui for $35,000-$50,000.

With the Emmy Awards approaching in just a few weeks, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) took the time to remind celebrities that their swag bags are considered taxable income and need to be reported as such when tax season rolls around. This is no small thing, either. The value of this year's Emmy gifts is estimated to be between $27,000 and $33,000. The ATAS even sent out letters to the presenters asking for compliance with the various tax codes with a waiver to sign, proving that they read it.

One of the reasons that the ATAS is being rather strict is that the IRS reportedly stands to collect over $1million from Oscar bags alone, which were worth over $100,000 each last year, and the ATAS doesn't want to be held responsible for any tax problems stemming from the Emmy Awards.

For a full list of the goodies that the Emmy presenters will be getting, click past the jump.

We love the Cartier LOVE line, but not as much as New York, apparently. The city actually declared yesterday to be "Declare Your Love Day" and the CEO of Cartier presided over the opening bell at NASDAQ Market Site (4 Times square), which was rung by Sarah Jessica Parker and Spike Lee. "Declaring your love" with Cartier involves buying some of their products, of course, and the company released the LOVE charity bracelet for the occasion. It features a pink gold miniature LOVE bracelet on a silk cord that comes in one of eight colors, each representing a different charity. $100 from each charity bracelet sale will be given to the charity it indicates. The bracelets, listed below, should be available at Cartier boutiques and online.

• Salma Hayek – Human Rights Watch– White Bracelet
• Scarlett Johansson – USA Harvest– Baby Pink Bracelet
• Ashley Judd – YouthAIDS – Red Bracelet
• Spike Lee – Kanbar Institute of Film and Television / Graduate Division/Tisch School of the Arts/ NYU – Purple Bracelet
• Edward Norton – Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust – Green Bracelet
• Sarah Jessica Parker – UNICEF – Blue Bracelet
• Michael Stipe – Mercy Corps / Gulf Coast Recovery – Black Bracelet
• Liv Tyler – The Breast Cancer Research Foundation – Deep Pink Bracelet

The company also threw a star-studded party to spread awareness of their new product - and the causes it supports.

[Image BCRF Cure]