Let the food frenzy begin. Tickets for the 2015 Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival go on sale to the general public today.
The festival, which takes place on South Beach's sands and venues around the city, takes place February 19 - 22, with more than 75 different parties, seminars, and tastings planned over the event's four days. SBWFF, which benefits the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management's Wine Spectator Restaurant Management Laboratory and Southern Wine & Spirits Beverage Management Center at Florida International University, brings in some of the biggest names in the culinary world, in what may well be the largest "spring break for chefs."
See also: Lee Schrager on SOBEWFF 2015: Meatopia, Tiki Cocktails, and the Cronut King
Festival director Lee Brian Schrager has promised a revamped Grand Tasting Village, telling Short Order, "We're retooling it this year and bringing the 'grand' back into Grand Tasting. We're freshening it up but not losing the spirit of the event."
While some festival favorites, like Burger Bash ($250-350) and Chicken Coupe ($325) return, this year features a host of exciting new offerings that range from a Death by Chocolate party hosted by Dominique Ansel ($125) to Meatopia: The Q Revolution ($250), which features carnivorous delights of all sorts. The event was a major draw at the New York City Wine & Food Festival, where thousands of people feasted on beef hearts, lamb ribs, quail, brisket, pork belly, and anything else that could be put on a spit, as an entire cow roasted with the city skyline as its backdrop. It was arguably the most dramatic event of the weekend, best summed up by a random woman who exclaimed, "my belly is cheering, my heart is pounding" after tasting some "butcher's bacon" (aka pork belly).
Other improvements and added features include more seating and shaded areas at the festival tents and free park-and-ride offerings from downtown Miami.
For a complete rundown of all the events, visit sobefest.com or call 1-877-762-3933 Monday - Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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