A guest blog post by Tracy
Continued from: Wine & Alligators…the Perfect Pairing (Part 1: Pre-Festival in Miami)
Part 2: Let the Festivities Begin!
Now for the festival details. The festival ran from Wednesday, February 21st, to Sunday, February 25th. With over 90 (90!!!) events taking place over five days, we somehow narrowed our choices to the following:
Thursday, February 22 – 6:15 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. – Barilla’s Italian Bites on the Beach hosted by Giada De Laurentiis and special musical guest, Smash Mouth
We had the opportunity to pay a little more for entrance into the event 30 minutes early, and we were so glad we did! It was so worth it to be able to eat/drink to our hearts’ desire before the masses entered and we could hardly move due to the hordes of people. The Italian food and wine samplings were, of course, delicious, and meeting Giada was a HUGE bonus. However, I’d have to say that seeing Smash Mouth perform was an unexpected highlight of the evening. They put on an amazing show!
Friday, February 23 – 7:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. – Wine Spectator’s Best of the Best
This was by far the most expensive of our events and, if I’m being honest, I’m not sure it was totally worth it. The positives: The wines were remarkable – all rated 90 points or higher by Wine Spectator; delicious food samplings by more than a dozen chefs who are James Beard Award nominees or finalists; the band, Drew T, was fantastic and kept the energy level high throughout the evening; and the desserts were not only delicious but true works of art! The negatives: The crowds made it very difficult to navigate the room without bumping into other guests; the lines were very long at many of the food/wine stations; there were very few places to sit or even to set down your food sampling once you finally made it through the line; and the worst part was that many of the wineries ran out of wine with nearly an hour remaining in the 3-hour event.
Saturday, February 24 – 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Grand Tasting Village
To say there were a lot of food and beverage options at this event would be like saying Liberace was a little sparkly. The options were truly endless and it would be nearly impossible to sample everything (not that we didn’t try). Following a few late nights and some [slightly] excessive drinking in the days leading up to this event, we weren’t sure we’d be able to endure a 5-hour tasting event. Yet, we somehow survived for the duration, due in large part to the cooking demos being put on by some of the most famous chefs of Food Network and Cooking Channel (Giada, Anne Burrell, Emeril and Guy Fieri, to name but a few). We paid a little more for the MasterCard Demo Pass, which provided us premium reserved seating. Worth every penny. These demos were a ton of fun (especially Guy!) and provided a much-needed respite from both the crowds and the unforgiving Florida heat.
Sunday, February 25 – 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. – Grand Bloody Mary Brunch hosted by Geoffrey Zakarian and Aaron Sanchez.
This event was held at Chef Geoffrey Zakarian’s own restaurant, Point Royal, at the Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Florida. Sad to say that this is another event with slightly mixed reviews. Walking through the door and being immediately greeted by the event hosts, Chefs Geoffrey Zakarian and Aaron Sanchez, both of Chopped fame, was a very pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, this held up the line significantly. This was only a two-hour event, yet it took us nearly 20 minutes just to get in the door. We felt that there could have been better planning in this regard – perhaps a line for those wanting photos and another for those wanting to eat/drink and take photos later. Unlike other events, this particular event was buffet-style, which wouldn’t have been an issue except that the venue was much smaller than some of the others, which caused a bit of a traffic jam and further delays. Just a few logistical issues that could certainly be worked out for next year. Despite all of this, the food was delicious – a lot of variety, from fried oyster sliders to prime rib, fish, shrimp cocktail, etc., and the wine and Bloody Mary’s flowed throughout the afternoon.
Sunday, February 25 – 5:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. – Beachside BBQ hosted by Michael Symon.
Our final event of the entire festival was the Beachside BBQ hosted by Michael Symon. As with other events, we paid extra to gain early access, and just like those events, it was money well spent! We had the foolish hope that many of the festival goers would have left town by Sunday evening and we’d have a slightly thinner crowd, but no such luck. This was quite possibly the most crowded event we attended all weekend. However, prior to the “masses” entering, we had some mouth-watering barbecue from some truly outstanding chefs (including one from my home town of Houston!). And the cocktails, especially the Coca Cola South Beach Iced Tea (imagine if an Icee and a Long Island Iced Tea had a baby) and the Tito’s Mule and Lemonade were awesome. But at the risk of sounding like a broken record, our biggest complaint yet again was the lack of seating and/or tables at which to eat or even set our drinks. Other than that, it was quite the fun-filled evening!
Next: Wine & Alligators…the Perfect Pairing (Part 3: Post-Festival in Miami)
Tracy Thornton, Guest Blogger
Read a short bio on Tracy in Red Shoes. Red Wine.‘s Guest Contributor section here. Follow Tracy’s adventures in Travel, Wine, and Photography on Instagram: @texanstracy and see her featured blog posts on Red Shoes. Red Wine. here: Tracy Thornton, Guest Blogger
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