According to the SOBEWFF website, a report generated with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau's research division in 2018 concluded the festival has an estimated economic impact of more than $34 million on Miami-Dade County, including Miami Beach, where signature SOBEWFF events such as Burger Bash and the Grand Tasting Village are held.
Of course, the festival wouldn't be complete without the chefs who spend time away their restaurants to cook at the various parties, events, and dinners during the five-day extended culinary weekend.
Tomorrow several local chefs will be recognized in a ceremony at Miami Beach City Hall.
Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Góngora will present 18 chefs with a certificate of recognition for their role in "helping shape the city's food scene and reputation as a major culinary destination." In a news release, Commissioner Góngora said, "The festival is an outstanding vehicle to highlight the incredible culinary talent based right here in our own back yard, alongside some of the world’s most well-known chefs, restaurants, and food personalities."
The chefs chosen to receive this recognition were participants at this year's SOBEWFF, which has raised more than $30 million for the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Florida International University since the festival's inception, according to SOBEWFF.
The chefs to be honored at the ceremony, which is open to the public, are as follows:
- Bernie Matz, Bodega
- Sean Brasel, Meat Market
- Kal Abdalla, A Fish Called Avalon
- Laurent Tourondel, LT Steak & Seafood and the Alley
- Danny Ganem, the Betsy Hotel
- Jeff McInnis and Janine Booth, Stiltsville Fish Bar
- Jeremy Ford, Stubborn Seed
- Sergio Sigala, Cecconi’s Miami
- Richard Hales, Bird & Bone
- Benjamin Goldman, Planta
- Marcelo Palacios, Prime One Twelve
- Jose Icardi, Diez y Seis
- Steve Santana, Taquiza
- Paolo Dorigato, Dolce Italian
- Justin Smillie, Upland
- Sunny Oh, Juvia
- Michael Pirolo, Macchialina
- Peter Vauthy, Red the Steakhouse
