Once upon a time, there was one major festival called the
Biltmore Food & Wine Festival, set in the historic
Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. This festival, held to raise money for its owners,
Baptist Hospital and the
United Way of Miami/Dade, offered great wines to sample and buy, wonderful foods and auctions. After years of success, there was a falling out between the site and the planning committees. The original management parted from the venue, leaving behind the Biltmore name. This year, for the first time, the Biltmore held a festival under its roof using the familiar namesake with proceeds benefiting the
University of Miami Comprehensive Cancer Center, while the founders of the original festival—meaning Baptist and United Way—continued the original concept at a new venue, the
InterContinental Hotel Miami, under the direction of the festival's director,
Lyn Farmer; director of special events for United Way Miami/Dade,
Ivette Zayas-Bazan; and festival board co-chair and chair of event planning committee,
Sue Gallagher.
At 6:30 PM, wine enthusiasts, charitable supporters, patrons of the arts and foodies wound their way up to the second floor of the InterContinental Hotel Miami for the Miami Wine & Food Festival, to sample wines from a small select group of producers and nibble on little plates of food from a handful of local restaurants. All this readied them for the main event—an interactive dinner—filled with wine, cooking and laughter. Atlas Floral Decorators Inc. created a fun and festive atmosphere by dressing 68 tables with colorfully printed linens, maracas and straw hats, as well as floral arrangements throughout the room. Aprons and chef hats were placed on alternating seats and each table had its own burner and utensils, foreshadowing the fun yet to come. Guests donned the chefware, shook maracas and sipped more free-flowing wine while awaiting instruction.
For this dinner, they would be cooking along with three famous chefs. A host of people including newscaster Dwight Lauderdale and festival director Farmer spoke before the first chef, Ola's Douglas Rodriguez, took the stage. Although staged in the center of the room, the facility was so large and this upscale group so rowdy, projection screens, microphones and a sound system from the hotel's in-house provider, Presentation Services Audio Visual, was required to enable everyone to see and hear the chef's instructions. Once Douglas began his ceviche appetizer, the chosen chef of each table followed suit. Next up, Azul's Michelle Bernstein demonstrated a chupa de mariscos dish, and lastly, New York-based Aix's Didier Virot prepared quail, the main course. Dessert was left to the pros, allowing more time for guests to roam from table to table, chat, dance and of course, drink more wine. "This is all for charity," said Farmer. "Our goal was naturally to raise as much money for Baptist and United Way as possible, but also to provide the most fun for the money, as well as offer the finest wines and food."
Meanwhile in Coral Gables, the
Cellar Club—the Biltmore's members-only wine bar—presented its event dedicated to honoring and recognizing women in the food and beverage industry.
Yvonne Roberts, executive director of the Cellar Club and co-founder of the event, led the way in celebrating women's contributions by kicking off the affair with the
Anne Bennett Memorial Golf Classic on Friday morning, followed by the grand tasting later that evening. Twenty-five award winning South Florida restaurants and 30 global wineries were showcased, along with beautiful florals—ranging from table arrangements to large vases filled with blooming branches, created by
Grande Affaires—in the Country Club Ballroom and terrace, where several hundred attendees gathered and wandered from table to table indulging themselves in the offerings. A select crowd of ticketholders milled about until 10 PM, waiting for the evening's finale, a stand-up comedy performance by
Margaret Cho.
—Shari Lynn Rothstein & Jose Gomez
