2015 South Beach Wine & Food Festival
The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival (#SOBEWFF) means four days of food, sand, celebrity chefs, and whatever crazy burgers, medianoche combos, and fried chicken frenzies the participating chefs can dream up. Just as baseball's spring training signifies to sports fans that there's hope post-Super Bowl, the South Beach festival connotes to chefs, food media, and food fanatics across the country that they've taken Winter's best shots (or at least you'd hope), and that ramp fatigue, outdoor dining, and taken-for-granted summer restaurant-going is just around the corner. Of course, it also means everything Miami — stone crabs, crazy bikinis, cubanos, Art Deco hotels, cigars, and lots of thumping music. To help navigate the food frenzy that is South Beach, as we have every year since The Daily Meal first launched, its team is on the scene.
Check in here regularly throughout the weekend for play-by-play coverage from Eat/Dine Editor Dan Myers and Executive Editor Arthur Bovino of the afore-mentioned events as well as seminars, discussions, and other events including the Oyster Bash, Italian Al Fresco Feast on the Beach, and the Tribute Dinner honoring Juan Mari Arzak, and visit our SOBEWFF landing page for full coverage. So far we've had the opportunity to interview chef Jose Garces about his thoughts on everything from immigration to how he feels about abolishing tips, Andrew Zimmern on his new show Delicious Destinations, chef Alex Atala on the magic of Brazilian cuisine, and Al Roker on his favorite foods to cook at home.
Please feel free to suggest new or old restaurants and established or up-and-coming chefs we should check out while on the scene (Dan on Twitter: @sirmyers; Arthur on Twitter: @arthurbovino). All tips, tricks, and post-party wrap-up rumors are welcome!
Thursday, 11:45 p.m.
The festival got underway on Thursday night with two huge events: Al Fresco Feast on the Beach, held in the main tent behind the Delano Hotel, and Thrillist's Barbecue and the Blues, held at the Shore Club.
Al Fresco Feast on the Beach was hosted by the culinary power duo of Gabriele Corcos and Debi Mazar, and some of the country's most dynamic chefs used the opportunity to showcase some of their finest Italian offerings. Lots of pasta, meatballs, and other Italian specialties were on offer (there were about a half dozen porchettas being served, a sign of a trend is we ever saw one), and it was clear that all the chefs involved were very happy to be there. Happening simultaneously a few blocks uptown, Thrillist's Barbecue and the Blues hosted by Anne Burrell was also a huge hit. Crowds lined up for some truly great barbecue (with an emphasis on local Miami spots) in the pool area of the Shore Club. — Dan Myers [pullquote:right]
Friday, 2 p.m.
Uncharacteristically chilly weather meant a change of venue for the South Beach Wine & Food Festival trade talks: from the rooftop of The Betsy downstairs to its stylish, velvet banquette-lined lounge. But there was nothing cold about the panelists. Founder and president of Bullfrog & Baum, Jennifer Baum led an open-ended discussion with chefs Laurent Tourondel (co-founder of the now-split BLT empire), five-time Burger Bash champion chef Josh Capon of Burger & Barrel and Lure Fishbar, Food Network Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli and Brooklyn-based Dale Talde of Pork Slope and Talde (who now has a Talde in Jersey City and is opening one in Miami this summer). It was warm and open, and very funny. Topics ranged from where they thought their careers would go when they first started, failures, successes, advice on opening a restaurant in Miami, and chef Guarnaschelli teasing, "I am going to open another restaurant, but I can't talk about it yet." — Arthur Bovino
Friday, 10:45 p.m.
The Amstel Light Burger Bash was back in full force tonight with a host of familiar faces as well as a slew of new ones. 30 leading chefs and thousands of hungry fans gathered under one giant tent to serve and enjoy some truly creative and delicious burgers, and in the end, Josh Capon's now-famous Bash Burger took the win. — Dan Myers
Full Coverage: Josh Capon Takes the Win at the 2015 South Beach Wine & Food Fest's Burger Bash
Friday, 11:40 p.m.
With a name like Best of the Best, it's fair to say that the annual walk-around food and wine tasting, held this year at the legendary Fontainebleau, has some high expectations to live up to. And this year, like all years, it certainly lived up to them. Folks dressed up to the nines to experience offerings from 59 different restaurants and 35 wineries in one of the hotel's lavish ballrooms, and some of the country's most renowned chefs were on hand to serve them their upscale creations. — Dan Myers
Full Coverage: Best of the Best 2015: The Best Food, the Best Chefs, the Best Venue
Saturday, 2:30 p.m.
During the 2015 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival, Bobby Flay confirmed reports that he's scouting a new restaurant location in the South, said there were plans for a Mesa Grill 2.0, and hinted that he might want to open a restaurant in Miami, but for the most part, the rest of the morning spent during the Bullfrog + Baum "Bobby Flay and the B-Team: It Takes a Village" trade talk focused on the people who work with him every day. In fact, anyone curious about the everyday life of the Iron Chef couldn't have snagged a better glimpse than by attending the talk hosted by Bullfrog founder and president Jennifer Baum in the downstairs lounge at The Betsy hotel on Ocean Drive.
The "B-Team," chef Flay's personal team is composed of four women (Stephanie Banyas, Sally Jackson, Christine Sanchez, and Elyse Tyrell) help him do everything from writing his cookbooks to keeping his life on schedule. Who better than to give insight into the life of this iconic Iron Chef? In fact, Flay took the panel opportunity to explain and talk up the work these four women do for him. "People ask me how I do it all and they have this image of me doing everything with 400 hands that are all mine," he said. "These guys are how I do it." — Arthur Bovino
Full Coverage: The B-Team: Chef Bobby Flay Talks About the Secret to His Success
Saturday, 11:30 p.m.
Chicken Coupe may have started out as a side event a few years ago, but it's become a signature of the South Beach scene, once again squirreled away in the ballroom of the W Hotel. While Harlem legend Charles Gabriel was there serving his signature Southern pan-fried chicken, many of America's best fried chicken shacks aren't represented (you won't find Willie Mae's, Gus's, or Prince's Hot Chicken Shack, for example). Despite that, and the difficulties of serving hot fried chicken at an event (hey, even great fried chicken is amazing cold), it's always a great opportunity to sample great chefs' takes on a dish that has been a bona fide trend over the past 10 years.
Following in the footsteps of Karl Worley's Biscuit Love Truck, whose Nashville hot chicken with watermelon salad and thinly-shaved pickles was the best offering from 2014's Chicken Coupe, this year's award for put-it-in-your-pocket or stash-it-in-your-significant-other's-purse (an award bestowed by this Daily Meal reporter each year) goes to John Lasater of Hattie B's Hot Chicken in Nashville, Tennessee. Hot chicken? Hot damn. This hot chicken lollipop with white bread, pickles, and black-eyed pea salad was piping hot, had zip, and tasted great the next day cold. It had at least a few members of the press handing out their cards. — Arthur Bovino
Full Coverage: Hattie B's, Blackbrick, Highlands, and Talde Are Scene-Stealers at Chicken Coupe
Sunday, 11:30 a.m.
Last evening's Tribute Dinner was a banquet fit for royals. This year, some true culinary royalty were honored, and with the likes of José Andrés and Alex Atala in the kitchen, culinary royalty were serving the food as well. Hosted in honor of the legendary Basque cuisine pioneer Juan Mari Arzak, of the eponymous three Michelin-starred restaurant in San Sebastian, Spain; and wine executive Ted Baseler of Ste. Michele Wine Estates, the meal, which was held in the Loews' Grand Ballroom, showcased the best that both of them had to offer. Arzak's influence was obvious in each of the dishes served, and wines in the Ste. Michele portfolio were served.
Full Coverage: 2015's South Beach Wine & Food Fest's Tribute Dinner: Honoring the Greats
Monday, 4:30 p.m.
Well, folks, that's a wrap. The 2015 South Beach Wine & Food Festival has come and gone, and, as we're sure that any one of the thousands of attendees can tell you, it was a resounding success. Even though there was a slight chill in the air, the weather cooperated and the festival went off without a hitch. We'll see you next year!
Full Coverage: Wrap-Up: 2015 South Beach Wine & Food Festival in Review