At this year’s annual edition of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF®), presented by the Food Network & Cooking Channel, we sipped samplings from the world’s most renowned wine and spirits producers as well as mingled with chefs and culinary personalities while noshing on their dishes.
Best Boozy Events at SOBEWFF® 2019 – Miami
After drinking and eating our way through most of the best 100 plus events during the five-day foodie fest, ( February 20th – 24th, 2019), we are delighted to share some of the best boozy festival events as well as competition winners at the 18th edition of SOBEWFF®:
Best of the Best
The grand walk-around affair hosted at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, where Golden Era glamour-meets-modern luxury, featured 60 of the nation’s top chefs –from James Beard Award nominees and finalists to Food & Wine Best New Chefs.
Between stops at food stations, guests were educated by especially invited proprietors and winemakers, who poured their top varietals into their glass. Notable wines included Garrus Rosé –‘the most expensive rose wine in the world’ from Château d’Esclans, Caymus-Suisun 2016 Grand Durif, and 2015 Almaviva, a Chilean Red Blend created by the joint venture between Baron Philippe de Rothschild and Viña Concha y Toro.
Among the many delicious plates presented by chefs, was the Veal and Truffle Lasagna by Scott Conant of Scarpetta, and his Chef De Cuisine, Christopher Li, of the Miami outpost in the Fontainebleau.
The sweet end to the evening included beautiful dessert stations as well as fresh brewed Illy coffee.
Heineken Light Burger Bash
At this year’s Heineken Light Burger Bash, presented by Schweid & Sons®, guests joined hosts, David Burtka & Neil Patrick Harris, to feast on burgers from competing chefs from across America, while sipping on refreshing Heineken Light beer and wine.
The esteemed panel of judges, including lead judge @foodgod Jonathan Cheban, Al Roker, Rev Run, iHeart and TÚ 94.9’s Enrique Santos, Samantha Schnur aka @TheNaughtyFork and NBC6’s Roxanne Vargas, selected the Boucher Burger by Chef Laurent Tourondel of LT Steak & Seafood, at the Betsy Hotel, to received this year’s Schweid & Sons The Very Best Burger Award.
Nulo Pet Food’s Yappie Hour
SOBEWFF guests joined Katie Lee, co-host of the hit Food Network show ‘The Kitchen’, for this returning fan-favorite event designed especially for their four-legged best friends at Loews Miami Beach. Festival founder and director Lee Brian Schrager’s beloved Charlie and Stanley, also joined Lee’s Little Buddy Gus for on Saturday afternoon Yappie Hour affair. All late afternoon, two-legged guests happily sipped on Tito’s Handmade Vodka cocktails, such Greyhounds and Frozen Arnold Palmers, while their fur babies enjoyed plenty of tasty treats from Nulo Pet Food.
Art of Tiki Cocktail Showdown
Ted Allen, author and beloved host of the hit Food Network series Chopped and Chopped Junior, hosted an evening of Polynesian flare and tiki-inspired cocktails and bites at the hip and trendy Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel.
At the end of the night, the competition judges selected from among the best bartenders across Florida, Jorgie Ramos of Abi Maria, a new Havana-inspired craft cocktail bar in Downtown Dadeland (South Miami), as their Judge’s Choice winner.
And, repeating his 2017 win, Ben Potts of Beaker & Gray took the prize for the Peoples’ Choice award.
Chef After Party at Nikki Beach Miami
At Nikki Beach Miami, South Beach’s ultimate party playground and landmark nightclub, chefs and guest enjoyed signature Casamigos cocktails Casa Rosa, Pineapple Smoke and Añejo New Fashioned throughout the night with tray-passed bites alongside a live paella station.
BACARDÍ’s Beach Carnival
SOBEWFF® closed out the weekend with the ultimate beach carnival, hosted by James Beard Award-winning TV personality Andrew Zimmern, with live music by the Mr. Nice Guy Band. Guests tried their hands at carnival games, while they sipped on Bacardi’s rum libation creations as well as bites created by some of Miami’s top chefs.
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