Bacardi produced a new closer event called Bacardi Block Party Sunday night at the North Tent. The Miami Vice vibes were strong throughout, from color schemes to signage fonts to a custom pink- and purple-wrapped BMW.Photo: World Red Eye
MIAMI—Closing out yet another iconic year, the 23rd annual Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF) presented by Capital One attracted more than 65,000 foodies and imbibers to 110 events with over 500 participating chefs, wine and spirit distributors, and influencers from Feb. 22-25. Festival director Lee Brian Schrager and his team remain committed to the core mission—having raised more than $37 million to date for the FIU Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.
Schrager and his year-round team have production down to a science. “Focusing on what the people want is important, no matter what it is,” he says.
Thanks to his dedicated approach to intently listening to consumers and industry players, there’s an "if it ain’t broke don’t fix it" mentality laced with calculated risk-taking to amplify elevation and growth each year. And if something doesn’t work—and sometimes it does not—he’s never afraid to say sayonara to make room for the next big thing.
A Sprinkling of Celebs
The first ingredient is booking a roster of celebrities to showcase new brand partnerships. Friday’s Trade Day invited It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton to present their recently released Four Walls Whiskey, Elizabeth Banks to showcase her canned wine line Archer Roose, and Kate Upton to pour her new Vosa "spirit soda."
Not to mention surprise live performance cameos from Miami megastars Gloria Estefan and Rick Ross at the weekend’s Grand Tastings, which kept the fest on full trend.
A Dash of Adored Talent
The second part of the recipe is bringing in top-name talent as event hosts to attract the masses. This year, a renowned list returned to the sands to cook for the foodie mob, including—but certainly not limited to—Rachael Ray, Marcus Samuelsson, Robert Irvine, Maneet Chauhan, Mashama Bailey, Guy Fieri, Aaron Sanchez, Kardea Brown, Jet Tila, Alex Guarnaschelli, Jeremy Ford, and Melba Wilson.
A Heavy Helping of New Events
While he’s adamant about maintaining his well-oiled machine, Schrager has always been a proponent of upgrades. This year, FoodieCon, the subject of our 2023 coverage, found a new home at W South Beach, where it expanded from a swag-filled lawn party to an additional ballroom bash, along with adding a FoodieCon Kickoff Happy Hour hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, and dedicated FoodieCon Dinner hosted by Robert Irvine, Jake Cohen, Olivia Tiedemann, and Jon Miller.
Additionally, Food Network hit Bobby’s Triple Threat unfolded live alongside Tiffany Derry, Brooke Williamson, and Michael Voltaggio at Kimpton Surfcomber Hotel Saturday night. Loews Miami Beach Hotel received the cast of The Kitchen (Katie Lee, Jeff Mauro, and Geoffrey Zakarian) for Sunday’s Bubbles Brunch. And Andrew Zimmern’s locally loved closer saw a new theme in the Bacardi Block Party Sunday night.
Even Capital One expanded its presenting sponsorship footprint with an entirely new program at event space The Hangar at Regatta Harbour in Coconut Grove, which featured a Sunset Feast Saturday night and the much-anticipated Heritage Fire: Grand Finale hosted by Chris Lilly and Fernando Desa Sunday night.
Plus, when it came to first-time master classes, students learned the gamut, from beer making and Basque cheesecake to empanadas and Philly cheesesteak.
A Secret Sauce of Strong Values
What ties this all together, though, is Schrager’s secret sauce: a potent blend of internal values like diversity and inclusivity.
“As a gay, Jewish male who produces the largest wine and food festival in the country, I'm more aware of the festival being inclusive, whether it's LGBTQ+, female, Asian, Black, or brown,” shares Schrager. “I've always wanted to be inclusive, and in the last few years, we've made more of an effort to be inclusive as people are looking at us closer.”
Schrager goes on to explain that the festival experienced this 15 years ago when people said he wasn’t booking enough female chefs. And again, a few years ago, when he received word there wasn’t a significant enough Black chef presence. Today, there are two events dedicated solely to Black food culture. On Saturday, JJ Johnson and Angela Yee hosted The Cookout at Eden Rock, and Sunday saw the expansion of Marcus Samuelsson’s Overtown EatUp. Schrager says he worked with a diversity officer and tapped a Black event production and marketing agency to curate and spread the word further this year—and we caught up with one of them.
“Black people have been cooking your food for 400 years,” explains Suzan McDowell, president and CEO of Circle of One Marketing, aka The Circle. “The Black community is motivated by respect, and the South Beach Wine & Food Festival has actually come out and given the Black community the respect it deserves by creating events that are part of the official lineup." She adds that she's especially “grateful and proud to be a part of it all” because she has the opportunity to give Black up-and-coming chefs a place at the table too.
Also locked into the importance of these values is the official host hotel of the festival, Loews Miami Beach Hotel. “Providing equal opportunity through diversity is a core value for us and is another example of how our values align well with the South Beach Wine & Food Festival,” shares Mutluhan Kucuk, complex managing director for the property. “Our advantage is that we live in a city that is rich in diversity.”
As always, Loews Miami Beach not only plays home base to much of the out-of-town talent and many attendees, but also hosts official events with diversity themes, like Asian Night Market and Tribute Dinner. In fact, the hotel goes as far as to prepare a unique food and beverage menu for the festival to showcase its culinary diversity.
“Loews Miami Beach Hotel showcases its culinary creativity through partnerships, and some of the partners happen to have diverse backgrounds as one would expect to find in a city like ours," Kucuk says.
The amenities were all about cultural hospitality, from croquetas and Campari pairings in the lobby to live mariachis and margaritas courtesy of Patrón at Bar Collins.
Schrager says it all comes down to presenting the very best. “It will always remain about having the best, no matter who they are.” He concludes, “We've come a long way. We have a long way to go. I want the festival to look like a Benetton ad, inclusive of everyone, and that's always been my line of thinking.”
Keep scrolling to check out the festival’s best moments of 2024, from celeb sightings to brand activations to all the mouthwatering eats and succulent sips...
