An Insider’s Guide To The South Beach Wine And Food Festival 2023 Posted on February 20, 2023February 21, 2023 by Sarah Elles Boggs We hope you are not giving up culinary delights and creative cocktails for Lent, because the most prestigious gourmet gathering in the nation is upon us once again! The 22nd annual South Beach Wine and Food Festival takes place this week, Thursday February 23 – Sunday February 26, 2023 and according to organizers, there are still some tickets available to the newest & most popular events. Festival Background For our post-pandemic transplant readers, the South Beach Wine and Food Festival (SOBEWFF) began in 1997 as Lee Schrager’s 1-day fundraiser for FIU. Back then, Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits was the sponsor and it was called Florida Extravaganza, Mr Schrager was in charge of media relations for Southern Glazer’s. It was a lot of fun, nobody lost an eye, FIU raised funds and all was well in the world. In 2002, the festival had grown exponentially and was re-born as the South Beach Wine and Food Festival. Fast forward to today and the festival now offers multiple days of bougie boozy fun and could really be renamed the South Florida Wine and Food Festival since events are held in venues throughout South Florida. There is also a sister festival in New York, aptly called the NYWFF. The 2022 festival was enjoyed by over 60,000 attendees with over 100 events dedicated to chefs, culinary personalities, wine and spirits. Despite its unrelenting popularity, SOBEWFF has not lost touch with its philanthropic roots. Over $34 million has been raised in support of its educational mission to cultivate future leaders in the hospitality industry and each year over 1,000 FIU students participate in the execution of the fun-for-funds. What to Expect at SOBEWFF If this is your first time at SOBEWFF, you should expect to try new foods, new taste combinations, new textures and flavors, new experiences, make new friends, learn new things, and of course, expect the unexpected. There will also be plenty of celebrity sightings. The SOBEWFF is one of Miami’s more popular events for celebrities who are either working, off the clock, or a combination of the two. Let’s not forget the 2011 festival when Paula Deen overdid her contractual duty of hosting an event at Whole Foods, rode Robert Irvine rodeo-style with a glass of wine in the air. It was so hysterical, the Internet took over and one of the first viral memes was born. If you don’t believe me, just google “Paula Deen Riding Things”. Yes, it is stupid but it also increased the brand exposure of the festival and nobody got hurt. SOBEWFF 2011 Paula Deen Riding Things Aside from the fun and food, you will mingle with Food Network personalities, Grammy-winning musicians, and more than 450+ chefs and wine and spirit producers for an unforgettable celebration of walk-around tastings, intimate dinners, late-night parties, brunches, lunches, master classes, wine seminars and more! Notable Events For 2023 This year, some of the SOBEWFF regulars and local industry titans are going to be very busy. David Grutman is hosting several events for his many local establishments. This includes a sushi-making course at Gekkō, the Japanese restaurat he opened with Bad Bunny in Brickell as well as events with DJ Khaled, Cedric Gervais and more. There will be a farmer’s market brunch with Michael Schwartz, a live version of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives with Guy Fieri, a dinner with Bobby Flay, a beach club cookout with D Wade and an amazing drag brunch hosted by Neil Patrick Harris. Always keeping the vibe as fresh as the ingredients, some new events are also being introduced including Foodie Con, a content creator event. There will be cooking demos, interactive panels, immersive activations and book signings with Instagram and Tiktok personalities. We will also see intimate dinners in partnership with the Michelin Guide and special events with local recipients of Michelin Stars. For a complete lineup of events that still have tickets available, you can check out the SOBEWFF website here. We plan to hit our own food circuit over the weekend and are excited to follow up with reviews of what we found. We hope to see you there!
10th Annual South Beach Seafood Festival Is This Weekend! Posted on October 17, 2022October 21, 2022 by Sarah Elles Boggs Polish your palates, Miami area foodies! The swanky South Beach Seafood Festival is back this weekend, this year being the 10th year anniversary of the weekend of taste-testing and sipping on the beach. This is one of the most highly anticipated events of the year and marks both the beginning of Stone Crab Season as well as the high season, where Miami’s beautiful climate attracts those from colder areas who are searching for a respite from the gloom of winter. As this is the 10th year of the Seafood Festival, special programming has been added to the 4-day blowout. At the end of the weekend, one lucky chef will be awarded a $10,000 prize for his or her talents, along with various musical guests, celebrity sightings and plenty to taste and sip. In previous years, the festival has been described by USA TODAY as one of the “Top 5 Specialty Festivals in The Country.” Forbes has touted it as one of the “Top 5 Things to Do This Fall,” and The Travel Channel named the South Beach Seafood Festival as the “Best Seafood Festival in the US.” The programming this year is comprised of 4 separate ticketed events that go on throughout the week. On Wednesday, October 19, foodies can attend “An Evening at Joe’s Stone Crab.” I should correct myself on this one. Only foodies who already have tickets for this event will be able to attend, as it has been sold out since the early summer. This presentation will showcase 5 courses of Executive Chef Andre Bienvenue’s cuisine paired with fine wines that are curated by master sommeliers. Thursday’s event is hosted by GOYA Foods and is being referred to as “Crabs, Slabs & Cabs.” This installment of the festival will highlight ‘Surf n’ Turf’ reimagined by some of South Florida’s leading chefs. We expect to see big names including chefs José Mendín from Pubbelly Sushi, Chef Danny Ganem from Fiola Miami, Sean Brasel from Meat Market and a wild card chef. This dinner will also be a sold-out event, so if you can get your hands on some tickets, do not hesitate. Friday evening is the grand finale, with 16 of Miami’s top chefs for eight competitive seafood rounds during the “Chef Showdown”. At the end of it all, the chef with the most points of the night will earn the grand prize of $10,000. After the series of nightly events, Saturday brings us to a beach party, considered the main celebration of the weekend. This is an all-day affair showcasing pop-up cafes by popular South Florida restaurants, curated menus by the top chefs, complimentary open bar stations, live musical performances, interactive experiences and nothing but fun, food and bubbly. “It’s a momentous 10-year celebration for the South Beach Seafood Festival, and we are grateful for the opportunity to continue to support and shine a spotlight on South Florida’s talented chefs and restaurant community every year,” said Valerie Roy, Director of Marketing and Client Strategy at CI Management, the team behind the South Beach Seafood Festival. “We are amplifying our programming and doing things in a more significant way for year #10 to celebrate the heart of what makes South Florida a not-to-be-missed culinary destination, highlighting local culinary talent in a unique manner, adding a $10,000 prize for one lucky chef champ of our Chef Showdown event, as well as bringing in some amazing entertainment to ensure this is our best festival yet.” We will see you there!