By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MEATPACKING DISTRICT — From Buddakan and Tia Pol to Amy's Bread and Hill Country Barbeque, popular eateries from around the neighborhood will move outdoors next month to benefit one of Chelsea's top schools.
"Tastes: Meatpacking Meets Chelsea" will bring an array of restaurateurs out onto the cobblestone of Gansevoort Plaza on Sat., June 4, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The goal is to fund extracurricular programs at the NYC Lab School for Collaborative Studies, which serves middle and high schoolers at 333 W. 17th Street. Tickets run $35 in advance, or $45 on the day of, and buy attendees six "tastes."
Parent Nancie Katz, a journalist from Cobble Hill, founded the event in 2008. She choose to send her two daughters to Lab because of its highly respected, project-based curriculum, but was quickly saddened to see a drama program get cut, and the school consistently struggle to fund afterschool programs like Model U.N., chorus and culinary arts.
"You're always making a trade off in New York City schools," Katz said. "You get one thing but not the other."
In its first year, "Tastes" raised $8,000, but with the program continuing to grow, Katz said that this year, she's targeting $100,000.
At Spice Market, one of the restaurants that has participated since the beginning, chef Anthony Ricco said he hasn't picked a final menu yet, but it may include some of the same features as last year — cherry soda, shaved tuna, chili tapioca and the eatery's signature cookie bags.
"We actually wind up having a good time out there," Ricco said, describing the Lab School as wonderful. "It's cool to see the whole neighborhood alive."
Beyond the culinary experience, one new feature at "Tastes" this year will be a Chelsea and Meatpacking District walking tour led by students in another Lab afterschool program, the Hands on History class taught by Save Chelsea co-president Lesley Doyel.
The tour will be offered twice, at 12:15 p.m. and 1:15 p.m. Along the way, students will share tidbits including the birthplace of the Oreo cookie at Chelsea Market, Chelsea Piers' connection to the Titanic and Gansevoort Plaza's past as a bustling farmers market.
"We do a little taste of each of the areas — no pun intended — using the High Line as a bridge," said Doyel, whose own daughter is a senior at Lab.
Tours are limited to 25 participants, but "Tastes" attendees who miss out can still pick up copies of a Hands on History neighborhood guidebook created by the Lab students.
The book will also explore site like the former underground railroad stop at Lamartine Place and the partially sold-off General Theological Seminary.
