Nations Restaurant News, September, 15, 2006 News & Trends Top chefs and athletes team up for 9^th annual’ Taste of tennis NEW YORK -- Several high-profile New York chefs, including John DeLucie of The Waverly Inn and Gotham Bar and Grill's Alfred Portale, recently teamed up with top tennis players to support the New York Food Bank at the ninth annual Taste of Tennis, a U.S. Open pretournament charitable event held at the W Hotel here. This year's lineup of tennis stars included 2003 U.S. Open winner Andy Roddick, Robby Ginepri, Svetlana Kuznetsova and several other players in town for the tournament. Visitors to the event mingled with the guests, listened to music provided by top New York nightclub DJs, and toured food stations offering samples from some of New York's most renowned eateries, including Peacock Alley, The Stanton Social, STK and Tavern on the Green. The highlight event of the evening was a cooking demonstration by the "featured doubles team" of Andy Roddick and Food Network personality and cook--I book author Ingrid Hoffman. A portion of the proceeds for the event, and 100 percent of the proceeds from a silent auction of collectibles and sports memorabilia, were to benefit the Food Bank for New York City, a charitable organization that supplies food for approximately 1.3 million New Yorkers. The 9th annual Taste of Tennis was presented by BNP Paribas and Rums of Puerto Rico.