Audio By Carbonatix
The salsa music wafted onto the beach as we walked toward the party tent on Saturday evening. Walking into the tents we were bathed in a sea of red. Red lights, giant red lanterns… and red Target logos.
Target was the title sponsor of Red Hot Night and the big-box chain that sells everything from fashion to bicycles to bananas made sure to place its brand on just about everything — from the napkins to the signage to the food and wine.
Interspersed between some good Latin-inspired flavors like Ingrid Hoffmann’s paella and Larios on the Beach’s yucca rellena were frozen turkey meatballs from Target’s Archer Farms brand. And if you chose a glass of chardonnay over a cocktail, it came from a box. A box! At the South Beach Wine & Food Festival!
Not that people complained, actually. Everyone had kicked off their shoes and were dancing to the sounds of the Celia Cruz All-Stars, boxed wine in hand. Which leads us to believe that maybe we are wine snobs, after all.
Ingrid Hoffmann’s paella.
The Local Craft Food & Drink’s Vince Tien.
Celia Cruz All-Stars (and Target logo).
The crowd cared less for gourmet fare and more for good music.
Lario’s on the Beach served a tasty yucca rellena. P.S. — can you spot the Target logo on the napkin?
Flan de queso by Susie’s Scrumptious Sweets.
But then there was this: boxed Archer Farms turkey meatballs and cocktail egg rolls.
Wine cube: seriously fun or seriously funny? I’ll have the red blend, please.
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