With approximately 700 guests in attendance, the Veuve Clicquot Bubble Bath was the first official event of this year's South Beach Food and Wine Festival. Produced by Touch Catering, the party was held at the oceanfront pool area and surrounding gardens of the Setai hotel and condominium complex. Of the three rectangular pools—each lined up in an organized grid—the center one was covered in clear plexiglass, allowing guests more room to mix and mingle, as well as dance to the sounds of DJ Little Louie Vega and his band Elements of Life."The Bubble Bath really kicks off the weekend for us," said festival founder and director Lee Schrager. "It used to be a three-day event but last year we started this event, and it kind of set a new standard for us. It's everything that people expect of South Beach—sexy, chic, young, hip, and with great champagne."
Veuve Clicquot's signature warm yellow was the primary color theme of the evening. Three "floating" yellow bathtubs were strategically placed along a semi-submerged platform in each of the other two pools—with frolicking models in each, being served champagne by their male counterparts swimming about, all wearing yellow swimsuits. After entering through the south lobby, decorated with a pink rose petal-strewn yellow carpet runner, guests were served their first glass of champagne, by bartenders wearing yellow T-shirts at the custom-built 15-foot yellow fiberglass "Bubble Lady Bar" located in the breezeway leading to the pool area.
Pink was a secondary color theme, most present in the "Rose Lounge," where Veuve Clicquot Rosé was served at the bar and dining terrace overlooking the pool and ocean. This space featured over 2,000 pink roses placed amid the existing bushes and in a variety of floral arrangements. Lighting design by Everlast Productions Inc. bathed the area in alternating waves of pink while guests nibbled on appetizers prepared by the Setai, including tuna tartare on tortilla chips encrusted with black and white sesame seeds, shrimp cocktail, chicken wings, spring rolls, and beef satay.
—Bobby Killgore