Photo Credit: World Red Eye
From Wednesday through Sunday, the anticipated South Beach Wine & Food Festival hit the beaches of Miami, stretching all the way up to Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach for a lineup of events catering to food and wine connoisseurs from all over the country. From private chef dinners to grand tasting tents, seminars and workshops, cooking classes and so much more—SOBEWFF pulled out all the stops for the annual event that included many memorable moments. Below, we’re rounding up some of the highlights of the 2020 Festival to relive all the action.
THE DAVID GRUTMAN EXPERIENCE AT GOYA FOODS’ GRAND TASTING VILLAGE WITH BUSTA RHYMES
Photo Credit: World Red Eye
As to be expected, Miami’s serial entrepreneur and hospitality king David Grutman ensured that the Festival ended in true Miami style as they brought LIV’s famed hospitality to the beaches of Miami at the Goya Foods’ Grand Tasting Village on Sunday afternoon. Each year, Grutman and the Groot Hospitality team bring a can’t-miss daytime party to the festival, complete with live DJ beats and exploding champagne bottles as the crowd goes wild for surprise elements and live performances. This year, Grutman tapped rapped Busta Rhymes to help bring the party, and the duo did not disappoint, with the addition of Cedric Gervais and Gianluca Vacchi that partied throughout the day.
TRIBUTE DINNER HONORING MARCUS SAMUELSSON AND JIM CLERKIN
Photo Credit: World Red Eye
This year, the Festival’s biggest event—the Tribute Dinner—was held in honor of Chef Marcus Samuelsson and the beverage industry’s Jim Clerkin at the Loews Hotel Miami Beach. The dinner was led by Andrew Zimmern and Melba Wilson, who guided guests through the vibrant meal, which paid homage to the late Leah Chase—the legendary chef known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine from New Orleans, LA. The menu was designed by revered chefs that celebrated the guests of honor, including Daniel Boulud, Michelle Bernstein, Scott Conant, Frederic Delaire and Edouardo Jordan. Highlights of the evening included a Live Auction with covetable travel and dining experiences, with proceeds benefiting the Southern Wine & Spirits Beverage Management Center at the FIU Chaplin School of Hospitality, with the expansion of the Chip Cassidy Endowment Fund.
WILLIAMS FAMILY KITCHEN SOUL FOOD BRUNCH AT SWAN
Photo Credit: World Red Eye
Pharrell and Pharoah Williams hosted the inaugural Williams Family Kitchen Soul Food Brunch at Pharrell and David Grutman‘s Miami Design District restaurant, Swan. Joining the group was a star-studded list of attendees including DJ Khaled along with Nicole Tuck and Asahd Khaled; Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston; Foodgöd and many more guests. The menu included Williams family favorites for guests to experience, paired with cocktails from Belvedere Vodka and Moët & Chandon Champagne.
HEINEKEN BURGER BASH HOSTED BY RACHEL RAY
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Each year, the Heineken Burger Bash is one of the Festival’s most popular events and this year was no different. Hosted by Rachel Ray and presented by Schweid & Sons, an esteemed panel of judges got to taste and choose the best burgers from over 40 participating chefs, hailing from around the country. Ray handed out three winning prizes—the Heineken Light People’s Choice Award to celebrity chef Alex Guarnschelli’s Butter in New York; Red Robin’s Best of the Bash to Hugh’s Baby BBQ & Burger Shop in Nashville, TN; and finally, the Schweid & Sons’ Very Best Burger award to Weston’s Kewpee Hamburgers from Lansing, Michigan.
WINE SPECTATOR‘S BEST OF THE BEST AT FONTAINEBLEAU MIAMI BEACH
Photo Credit: Haute Living
One of the Festival’s most coveted events—Wine Spectator‘s Best of the Best—returned to the iconic Fontainebleau Hotel on Friday night, inviting hundreds of guests to come try 60 of the nation’s top chefs’ gourmet samplings, paired with over 100 wines rated 90 points or higher on the Wine Spectator’s scale. Guests attendees flooded the massive ballroom sampling from revered restaurants as they enjoyed live music and special activations like the Wine Wall raffle, where they got the opportunity to take the Best of the Best into their own hands.
COCA-COLA BEACHSIDE BBQ WITH GUY FIERI
Photo Credit: SOBEWFF
Famed TV personality and Chef Guy Fieri hosted his annual Coca-Cola Beachside BBQ on Saturday night, inviting more than 30 chefs that he hand-selected to serve up their best barbecue cuisine, from sliders to ribs, hot dogs and more. Guests danced on the sand to live country music, sipped on specialty cocktails and wines and enjoyed a Guy Fieri-approved party all night long.
BARILLA’S ITALIAN BITES ON THE BEACH
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Giada De Laurentiis & Dario Cecchini returned to the sands of Miami to kick off the week on Thursday with Barilla’s Italian Bites on the Beach. Here, festival-goers got to sample the best of Italian cuisine from 30 chefs stemming from all over the nation, indulging in tastes from Tuscany, Sardinia, Campania, Sicily and more.
HONEYSPOT CHEF MASH-UP
Photo Credit: Aaron Sirak
Instagram sensation @thenaughtyfork aka Samantha Schnur and her HoneySpot app co-founders Gino Gomez and Adam Saad hosted the first-ever HoneySpot x SOBEWFF Chef Mash-Up with Miami’s top chefs at Ace Props Miami on Thursday evening. Here, guests were invited to come sample innovative mashup creations where chefs collaborated together to create one-of-a-kind plates, each bringing their signature flair to the dish. Featured restaurants included Brad Kilgore from Kilgore Culinary, Scott Linquist from COYO Taco, Lorena Garcia from CHICA, Jeremy Ford of Stubborn Seed, amongst many others.
CHEFS DARIO CECCHINI, EYAL SHANI AND CHEF FAVIO VACCARELLA’S PRIVATE DINNER AT THE CONTINUUM
Photo Credit: World Red Eye
The world’s most famous butcher, Dario Cecchini, joined forces with Executive Chef Fabio Vaccarella from The Patio at the Continuum in Miami Beach, together with “The Cauliflower King” and the man credited with redefining Israeli street food, Eyal Shani, to produce an extravagant three-course menu for Continuum residents and invited guests on Friday night The Patio restaurant within the luxury beachfront residences. The inaugural event at the Continuum formed part of the official Intimate Dinner Series during this year’s South Beach Wine & Food Festival.
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