Reporter James Ford and PIX 11 News fans in Morningside Heights.

Throngs of food lovers took over the Armory on Lex and 26th last night for the Village Voice's 2nd Annual Choice Eats tasting event benefiting Slow Food NYC. Despite a bigger space than last year's Puck Building, the 1700-strong crowd packed the aisles and was ravenous from the start. Lines were, at times, absurdly long (Fette Sau's beef tongue pastrami, Margon's Cuban sandwich), and food ran out at several tables within the first hour, a small reward for being an early bird.

Our favorites: the lamb sandwich from Sheep Station (our first taste of the evening!), and Dirt Candy's portobello mousse with pear fennel compote, and, for dessert, No. 7's vanilla pudding with miso bananas. Also well worth the wait: the barbecue beef short ribs with grits from Peaches.

We spoke with the Village Voice's resident foodies Robert Sietsema and Sarah DiGregorio (traveling incognito, of course) who were responsible for curating the selection of restaurants that participated in Choice Eats.

Also: See the Choice Eats 2009 photos!