Although the 2024 SoBe Seafood Fest saw many changes and upgrades, the signature venue remained—a four-block stretch along Lummus Park on famed Ocean Drive nestled between the boardwalk and sea.Photo: Courtesy of South Beach Seafood Festival and CI Management
MIAMI—From Oct. 23-26, 12,000 seafoodies flocked to the Magic City to embrace local cooks, catches, crustaceans—and cocktails to pair—at the 12th annual South Beach Seafood Festival (SoBe Seafood Fest).
A portion of the four-day ticket sales benefited the EAT SMART program, which provides healthy meals and nutritional education and programs to local children in Miami-Dade County. Additionally, the festival gave back to the local restaurant and bartending community via monetary prizes awarded throughout the weekend.
Owned and produced by CI Management, SoBe Seafood Fest underwent a face-lift this year. Although it remained dedicated to hosting one event per day (or night), several modifications were made. Upgrades included a new host hotel and Thursday night event venue, the addition of a famed celebrity chef host, the optimization of the Friday night event layout, and a fully rebranded Saturday signature tasting experience.
Learn more about how the changes played out, and then continue scrolling to browse the brand, beverage, talent, and (of course) delectable seafood highlights below.
1. Choosing a new host hotel partner
In 2024, SoBe Seafood Fest decided to tap Loews Miami Beach Hotel as the new host hotel of the festival due to its ideal location near the festival’s main event site, Lummus Park along Ocean Drive.Co-founder of South Beach Seafood Festival and chief marketing officer of CI Management Valerie Roy says it’s been a long time in the making. “Since the festival began over a decade ago, we have been working toward creating a partnership with Loews Miami Beach Hotel as our host hotel given its versatility, space, beautiful accommodations, and, most importantly, close proximity to the event,” she says. “And this year, the dates and collaboration aligned.”
According to Loews Miami Beach Hotel complex managing director Mutluhan Kucuk, the host hotel discussion began when the festival team reached out about accommodations. “As the conversation progressed, our involvement evolved, with Loews Miami Beach Hotel taking on a larger, more active role by hosting one of the festival’s key events,” he says. “Our hotel has hosted numerous high-profile events, including serving as the host hotel for the renowned South Beach Wine & Food Festival. We believe in the potential of South Beach Seafood Festival and are proud to be part of an event that contributes to the local economy.”
Kucuk says that SoBe Seafood Fest complements the hotel’s commitment to producing exceptional food and beverage experiences that are authentically local. “Our hotel embodies the essence of the South Beach coastal lifestyle,” he continues. “This festival celebrates the same vibrant vibe, where great food, beverage, and ocean views come together.
Thursday night’s Crabs, Slabs & Cabs 280-seat wine dinner featured eight chefs and took place inside new host hotel Loews Miami Beach Hotel’s second-floor Americana Ballroom. Guests were gifted swag bags from GOYA and phone accessories from Miami Chains & Co.Photo: Courtesy of South Beach Seafood Festival and CI Management
2. Thursday’s multicourse wine dinner moving into the ballroom
The partnership with Loews Miami Beach Hotel included not only a dedicated room block with competitive rates but the ability to host Thursday night’s signature event: Crabs, Slabs & Cabs, which invited 280 surf-and-turf enthusiasts to a multichef wine dinner inside the hotel’s Americana Ballroom. Kucuk says the banquet team for the event included three managers and 32 servers, along with four chefs and three cook team members from the culinary team.The hotel’s executive chef Christopher Aguirre joined forces with celebrity chef and personality Robert Irvine (more on his involvement below); presenting festival sponsor GOYA’s executive chef, Fernando Desa; chef of RED South Beach Peter Vauthy; executive chef Marco Cannata of ZUMA; executive chef and owner Sean Brasel of Meat Market; chef and co-founder of Pubbelly Jose Mendin; and executive chef of Osaka Nikkei Juan Alfonso Urrutia.
The evening kicked off with a walk-around cocktail hour featuring pours courtesy of Breakthru Beverage, Vineyard Brands, Umani Ronchi, and Irvine’s Vodka. Plus, decadent food stations in collaboration with Halperns' Steak and Seafood included small plates ranging from steak tartare with Oscietra caviar bites (Zuma) to braised short rib dumplings with crab and bacon butter (Loews Miami Beach Hotel), to filet mignon with asparagus, king crab, and bearnaise (RED South Beach), along with a smoked pig roast and snow crab claws from Halperns'.
Dinner included five courses served family style, and each course was paired with wines from Umani Ronchi and Gundlach Bundschu. The chefs presented starters including an array of carpaccios, tiraditos, tartars, and smoked crab cigars, with Irvine’s entree offering of tomahawk ribeye and tiger prawns taking center stage.
With such a “complicated dinner that requires a very thoughtful back-of-house plan,” Roy says having the event inside (versus outdoors, like in years past) allowed everyone to use more ballroom space to execute. “It is no easy feat to serve 280 people with eight different executive chefs leading the charge on their courses,” she admits.
3. Adding a celebrity chef personality as the master of ceremonies
In April, CI Management’s exclusive wine and spirits partner, Breakthru Beverage, brought Robert Irvine into the mix to launch his new spirits line, Irvine’s Spirits, at the second installment of the Tampa Bay Wine & Food Festival. “He loved the concept of the event, which was modeled after South Beach Seafood Festival, with similar dinners throughout the week, a Chef Showdown Friday night, and festival on Saturday,” shares Roy. “He appreciates that these events celebrate hardworking local neighborhood talent, and he wanted to come to one of his favorite cities, Miami Beach, to celebrate South Florida’s talent.”Irvine was the event emcee at Thursday’s Crabs, Slabs & Cabs event—he also led the charge on the main courses as a featured chef, and Irvine Vodka’s Martini Impossible was a main cocktail hour pour.
On Friday night, Irvine hosted the four-hour 11-battle VIP Chef Showdown competition, which took place on the sand at the festival venue. Adjacent to the stage was the Irvine’s Spirits bar buildout, with creative design and production handled by Rose Gold Collective. Irvine pulled double-duty hosting the competition and greeting fans at his pop-up bar. On Saturday, Irvine returned to his bar post to pose with more fans and autographed spirits bottles before hosting a seared tuna culinary demo in the Milam’s Markets Culinary Showcase Kitchen.
“Not only does his presence help shine a national spotlight on the culinary community by hosting dinners and demos, but as host of the annually sold-out VIP Chef Showdown, he really kept the chefs on their toes,” shares Roy. “He engages and educates the crowd on the intricacies that the competing chefs go through, which helps validate the hard work they put into the showcase and the dishes they present to the judges.”
The VIP Chef Showdown invited 22 chefs to go head-to-head in 15-minute battle rounds featuring themed ingredients like shrimp, crab, lobster, salmon, tuna, and surf and turf. The judges’ panel consisted of food writers, local chefs—and past battle champs—along with BizBash, who was invited to take a seat at this year’s onstage table.Photo: Courtesy of South Beach Seafood Festival and CI Management
4. Switching up the layout for the Friday night VIP Chef Showdown
Friday night’s Chef Showdown was the first of two events that unfolded in Lummus Park—the venue was barricaded on the sand between the boardwalk and the ocean.VIP Chef Showdown saw a new layout, and “the logistics weren’t easy,” admits Roy, with a trailered larger main stage set in the middle of the event site. In past years, the stage was stationed at the southernmost corner of the venue underneath a tent. “Guests could enjoy the Jack Daniel’s Main Stage live demos from all aspects of the event, and while we were nervous to not have the grand tented experience guests were used to, it was a resounding success,” says Roy. “The chefs felt more integrated with the crowd being in the middle of the footprint.”
Other new additions included Barilla as the pasta sponsor of Battle Seafood Pasta and a new Pacifico Beer bartender battle. “While the logistics weren’t easy, this is a celebration of South Florida, and hospitality includes chefs, mixologists, and everyone in between. We want restaurants to have the opportunity to celebrate all aspects of their establishments to entice guests to visit them in the future,” offers Roy.
Another first: BizBash was invited to join the official judges’ panel on Friday night, where this writer got in on the onstage, behind-the-scenes action tasting all 22 dishes produced by the competing culinary teams. Some of the highlights included: devouring six-time champ chef Bernie Matz’s lobster skewers and lobster salad; watching Battle Surf N Turf winner chef Fiorela Cornejo of Rusty Pelican blasting a boozy water gun into fans’ mouths and setting fire with said boozy gun to her tomahawk steaks; and an up-close-and-personal view of renowned chef Donatella Arpaia in her competitive pre-victory element during Battle Seafood Pasta.
5. Rebranding the Saturday signature event into the all-inclusive Seafood Slam
The heart and soul of SoBe Seafood Fest has always been its Saturday signature event. In years past, the structure featured a general admission ticket with access to an open bar and limited food samples but required ticket holders to purchase vending coupons to purchase most food items from the majority of the participating restaurants. A secondary VIP upgrade option included food vouchers and access to a premium lounge experience.
This year, CI Management rebranded and evolved the event giving it a new name—Saturday Seafood Slam—and an all-inclusive structure. “It was a big risk to make this an all-inclusive festival day, and it was very well received by the participating restaurants and the consumers who attended,” shares Roy. “Everyone’s a VIP with this new format, and we want to make sure guests can enjoy a quality festival and restaurants feel that the guests are there to enjoy their offerings and learn about them.”
With the help of national brands and partners, along with wine and spirits activations from exclusive wine and spirits partner suppliers distributed by Breakthru Beverage, CI Management was able to support local culinary talent and create a more valuable marketing and promotional experience.
“Our goal was to use a portion of the revenue from the new, all-inclusive ticket sales to help support the participating restaurants with their expenses,” shares Roy. “By making it a sampling day for all to enjoy at one ticket price, all attendees could have the same VIP experience, and all restaurants could be seen by the entirety of the festival guests. We could showcase more restaurants, more experiences, and more quality and fun throughout the entirety of the festival day.”
When asked if the festival will continue to test out new features and partners heading into next year, Roy says, “Get ready, because we are already working on how to continue to grow this for 2025.” CI Management is shooting for more restaurants, more national brand partners, and more community involvement—all to satisfy South Beach’s hungry brood of seafoodies.
Keep scrolling to see some of the festival’s best moments (and best bites)...
