05/04 — The Radar was off for two days, but now it's back after picking up activity Thursday night at The Taste of New York.

The Jets' fifth annual event was held for the first time at Guastavino's, an elegant restaurant with a scenic setting under the Queensboro Bridge. I've been to all five, the first four as a reporter and Thursday as a member of the Jets. They've all been excellent, not just because of the cause — raising money and awareness in the fight against hunger — but also because of the concept — sampling bite-sized servings of food from a dozen top New York and New Jersey restaurants and the wine that went with them.

In between the eating and the drinking were the meeting and the watching. A number of Jets players and coaches attended the event as always. At the top of the list was Chad Pennington, who handled a long line of autograph and photo-op seekers, not far from owner Woody Johnson, who had his own flock of early fans. GM Mike Tannenbaum worked the crowd, as did coordinators Brian Schottenheimer and Bob Sutton.

Also at the event was Curtis Martin. We all expect Curtis to announce his retirement soon, but he told Rich Cimini of the Daily News he's still working out at the complex and is still at his playing weight of 206. Comeback? I don't see how, but ...

Many other Jets vets studded Guastavino's two floors and as always seemed to enjoy the ambience. No deep balls were completed because both Kerry Rhodes and Erik Coleman were on hand. Tight end and travel mogul Chris Baker, kicker Mike Nugent, Nick Mangold and D'Brickashaw Ferguson were among the others who made the scene.

Marques Tuiasosopo was also at "the Taste," and I had a specific topic for the Jets' new quarterback: his brother, Matt, who is the starting third baseman for the Class AA West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx. The younger Tui is hitting .362, which includes a 5-for-5 game last week, among the Southern League leaders.

"I talk to Matt about once every other week. He's doing really well. He's maturing," Marques said. "He was going to go to Washington to play quarterback but then the Mariners made him their top draft pick."

Marques also starred at UW, where all the athletic kids of Manu Tuiasosopo seem to wind up. He didn't offer an opinion about whether Matt would have been the best QB in the family, and it doesn't sound like that issue will ever come up. As Matt said in the Jackson (Tenn.) Sun, "I told everyone from the start that if I fail with baseball I'm not going back to football. I'm not going to be a Chris Weinke or a Drew Henson."

I've been trying to catch up with as many players as possible to let them know I'm on the team so as not to shock their systems when they see me in my second-floor office right next to the coaches' wing at Weeb Ewbank Hall. But when I mentioned this to Brad Smith, the QB-turned-WR said he was all over it.

"I've seen you a few times when I've walked by," Smith said.

Funny, I hadn't seen Smith in my new role of seven weeks until Thursday night. This shows that either he's more elusive than we know or I'm not as observant as I thought.

I didn't get to all the restaurant stations. Of those I did, Patroon's steak tartare was a fine morsel, the Roosevelt Grill's coulibiac of smoked salmon was delightfully subtle, and Ruby Foo's spicy tuna maki roll melted in my mouth.

Late in the event, Cimini mentioned that NOBU had sashimi. I got to the table but all the sashimi salad was gone. Well, at least I'll always have Tokyo, when a group of sportswriters covering the Jets-Bucs American Bowl went to the original NOBU. The black cod that night was to die for.

As they might say at Trattoria L'Incontro, another of Thursday's featured restaurants at "the Taste," ciao for now.