North Miami Beach’s 36-seat Mazzi Cucina has the veneer of a hidden gem. It sits in a strip mall near the former location of Yakko-San that today houses favorites such as the Vietnamese spot PhoMi2Go, Filipino restaurant Lutong Pinoy, and Lettuce & Tomato, which is run by a former Epicure…
It’s last call for the 2017 South Beach Wine & Food Festival. Today, it’s back to reality after spending five days eating and drinking. And, while most of us are slightly hungover and hoarse from shouting, “rose all day”, it’s time to look back at the winners and losers of the festival.
When the South Beach Wine & Food Festival’s Chicken Coupe first nested at the W South Beach five years ago, the bulk of the event fell under the purview of the Dutch’s Andrew Carmellini. In recent years, the festival has taken over that role while upping the price of a ticket to the all-you-can handle fried chicken-and-champagne orgy from $250 a head to $325 this year.
If cocktails are a religion, tiki is some hybrid of Santería and gold-wrapped, incense-burning Catholicism. While classic cocktails like the daiquiri — a humble shake of lime juice, dark rum, and simple syrup — rely on only a handful of ingredients to balance out the alcohol’s burn, in tiki, no less than a half-dozen powerfully flavored ingredients, ranging from spice-infused syrups to tropical fruit juices, cloak enough rum to pickle someone’s liver three times over.
Miami Beach’s briny ocean breezes were tinged with the scent of grilled beef last evening as thousands took to the sand for the South Beach Wine & Food Festival’s Burger Bash — the annual feast that celebrates all things on a bun.
This weekend, the white sands of Miami Beach fill with celebrity chefs and foodies when the South Beach Wine & Food Festival celebrates its sweet 16. If you haven’t snagged tickets, some are still available for the high-profile Burger Bash and Grand Tasting Village. Miami is also teeming with satellite dinners and parties where chefs from around the globe cook for our city.
The new South Beach restaurant Forte dei Marmi (150 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach) describes itself as having “sophisticated simplicity” in both its cuisine and atmosphere. Perhaps more interesting, however, is chef Antonio Melino’s background.
The South Beach Wine & Food Festival is in full swing. Celebrating its sweet 16, SOBEWFF will draw an estimated 70,000 attendees plus scores of chefs and celebrities for culinary events spread across Miami Beach and the mainland. With more than 85 events to choose from, guests can enjoy a bacchanalia of innovative treats such as doughnut-wrapped fried chicken and kimchi-garnished burgers.
Marc Summers is about to stuff his face with burgers. The former host of Nickelodeon’s Double Dare, a TV game show where kids (and families) got covered in green slime, will judge the Best of the Bash award at this year’s South Beach Wine & Food Festival Burger Bash. The award, sponsored by restaurant chain Red Robin, gives a chef $10,000 and a chance to get his or her creation on the eatery’s menu.
Barclay Graebner, who opened Wynwood’s Morgans Restaurant in 2010 with Jamaican movie producer Richie Effs, is opening two restaurants after she fell quiet following the closure of Georgia’s Union in the former Joe Allen space in 2012.
When Mari Rubio began culinary school at Johnson & Wales in 2009, she “hated pastry.” Eight years later, Rubio, who now owns her own dessert business, makes the most indulgent cookies in town.
Who says sushi has to involve fish? Let ’em stay in the ocean, because Sushi Garage has your fish-free sushi cravings covered. The Sunset Harbour eatery now offers an array of menu options that are all good for vegan and vegetarian eaters.
Find your way around the South Beach Wine & Food Festival with this map of party and event venues.
It was December, when Richard Hales’ Southern spot, Bird & Bone, had just opened inside the Confidante Miami Beach, that he realized he was out of place. He was standing behind a weathered wood-framed bar turning out smoky Aperol spritzes and bites of auburn fried chicken when a group of drunken, scantily clad vacationers cozied up to him. They had just learned he was the chef.
In 2012, Johnson & Wales University’s North Miami Campus initiated the JWU Zest Awards, which recognize the local culinary community for excellence. The awards have become an integral part of Miami’s food-and-beverage landscape. Chefs and restaurateurs acknowledge the Zests as Miami’s homegrown version of the nationally acclaimed James Beard Awards.
In the past few years, the mellifluous moniker of chef Chloe Coscarelli has become synonymous with crowd-pleasing vegan eats. After winning Food Network’s Cupcake Wars in 2010, the pretty chef with an infectious smile went on to write three popular cookbooks before opening her groundbreaking NYC eatery, By Chloe, with partner Samantha Wasser, in 2015.
The South Beach Wine & Food Festival has long regarded music as part of a successful weekend. Past headliners such as KC & the Sunshine Band and Ziggy Marley have rocked the tents. This year, several events seamlessly blur the lines between music and food. As William Shakespeare said: “If music be the food of love, play on.”
The Grand Tasting Village at SOBEWFF is a veritable bacchanal of wine, spirits, and food. It spans three blocks of pristine beach along Ocean Drive. That’s about the length of four NFL football fields.
Happy Monday, Miami. The tastiest time of the year returns this week. The South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF) will celebrate its sweet 16 beginning Wednesday with the world’s best-known chefs, wine and spirits producers, and culinary personalities. More than 85 finger-licking events will cater to upward of 70,000 attendees.
The tastiest time of the year is back. The South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF) will celebrate its sweet 16 with the world’s most renowned chefs, wine and spirits producers, and culinary personalities. More than 85 finger-licking events will cater to upward of 70,000 attendees. Through SOBEWFF, you can…
Today, Miami’s Mandarin Oriental will unveil a new waterfront bar and lounge with a Peruvian twist. Designed by the hotel’s executive chef, Diego Oka, a Japanese/Peruvian toque who has spent a large part of his culinary career working with celebrity chef Gaston Acurio, the space is an ode to his and Acurio’s homeland.
Miami chef and restauranteur Ralph Pagano says his new Fort Lauderdale restaurant, Naked Crab Seafood Kitchen, has one thing no one else in the area offers: mermaids. “There’s a lot of things that make this concept unique, but I don’t think anyone else has a tiki, steakhouse, cocktail bar with a live mermaid show,” Pagano says.
