Yesterday, the 17th-Annual Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival kicked-off with its Director’s VIP Welcome Happy Hour at the beautiful Shelborne South Beach Oasis Garden. As the sun shined, the palms swayed, and the ocean breeze whipped through everyone’s hair, Miami’s finest food-lovers wined and dined with bites by Root & Bone and drinks from Whispering Angel and Fifty Pounds Gin.
Running from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. (the perfect workday happy hour!) this invite-only welcome party is traditionally hosted by Lee Brian Schrager—SVP Communication & Corporate Social Responsibility of Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, and founder and director of the festival—who held the first one at The Betsy South Beach back in 2014. As if the South Beach Wine & Food Festival wasn’t enough of a reason to celebrate, Whispering Angel also surprised guests by debuting another one of its fabulous rosés, The Palm, which was unveiled for the very first time at yesterday’s event. As “angels” in sexy white dresses made sure everyone’s perfectly-pink cup never ran dry, Lee welcomed guests to the 17th installment of the festival, which once again broke ticket sales, and got everyone excited for all of the events the weekend has in store.
During SOBEWFF, more that 60,000 locals and visitors alike attend hundreds of walk-around-tastings, signature events, celebrity chef dinners, late-night parties, workshops, dessert events, food competitions, and more. Some fan favorite events include: Fontainebleau Miami Beach presents Wine Spectator’s Best of the Best, Heineken Light Burger Bash presented by Schweid & Sons hosted by Guy Fieri, Goya Foods’ Grand Tasting Village, BACARDÍ presents Walshy Fire’s Rum & Bass Beach Party, and Southern Kitchen Brunch hosted by Trisha Yearwood. The 2018 event saw celebrities, celebrity chefs, and event hosts like José Andrés, Giada De Laurentiis, Guy Fieri, Bobby Flay, Duff Goldman, Anne Burrell, Robert Irvine, Scott Conant, Emeril Lagasse, Michael Schwartz, Jonathan “Foodgod” Cheban, Katie Lee, Marcus Samuelsson, Guy Fieri, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, to name a few.
Happy SOBEWFF!
By Jennifer Agress | Miami Editor