Here it is, food friends: Your opportunity to land tickets to the premier food event of the year on Staten Island, the Taste-off at the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield. This year it will be held on Sunday, April 8, beginning at 10:30 a.m.

This event is the culmination of the Advance's 45th annual recipe contest, which kicked off in September. By the way, it's certainly not too late to enter a recipe in the contest in one of four categories — Appetizers, Entrees, Desserts and "Nostalgia," the latter being a new category which reflects family traditions.