On May 16, Taste of Tribeca, the culinary festival benefiting local schools, is launching the first American Lamb Cook-Off between Amanda Freitag, executive chef of The Harrison, and Kurt Gutenbrunner, chef/owner of Wallsé, Café Sabarsky and Blaue Gans. Starting at 1 p.m., the competitors will be given a mystery cut of American lamb and challenged to an Iron Chef-style cooking competition, with their dish judged by a panel of top food personalities.

The cook-off will be judged by Gail Simmons, of Food & Wine magazine and Bravo’s “Top Chef”; Josh Ozersky, restaurant editor for Citysearch; and Lauren Glassberg, reporter for “Neighborhood Eats” on WABC-TV. In addition to the Lamb Cook-Off, Taste of Tribeca brings together over 60 of downtown’s most exciting restaurants, including long time dining favorites, such as Chanterelle, Bubby’s and The Odeon as well as the city’s hot newcomers like Macao Trading Company and Bar Artisanal. Successful events from last year’s festival will return like a neighborhood wine tour, “The Kids’ Zone” and live entertainment featuring popular musical acts.

To purchase advance tickets, attain additional information or add to the Taste of Tribeca blog, please visit http://tasteoftribeca.org. To ensure ticket availability, advance purchase is strongly recommended; tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis.