Final Shots: South Beach Wine & Food Festival 2010

I'm way behind getting my last pics from the 2010 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival up on the blog, so instead of a lot of commentary on my part, I'll let the photos speak for themselves. Enjoy!

































I say it every year, but if you like food, wine, and Food Network there's really no better festival out there than the one in South Beach. I've been lucky enough to attend four years in a row and they just keep getting better.

And even though it was a little chilly this year (67 degree highs), I'm already missing the sun and sand. Oh well... there's always next year.

Word Search: Who's More Important at SoBe?

I found the logo for the 2010 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival interesting. The bottle design lists many of the festival's showcased chefs and stars, but there were many more involved whose names wouldn't have fit.

Yet some are on their twice! Can you find them?



Guy and Bobby better watch out. There's a couple from Memphis looking to take over! ;-)

If you want to see Food Network stars while down at SoBe, just stand by the Loews Hotel

See that pic of Alex Guarnaschelli and me? I bet you think I had to call her press people and arrange a photo opp weeks in advance or buy an expensive festival ticket to an event I knew she was going to be at just to get this picture, right?

WRONG. I got that picture without any pre-planning or cost on my part (apart from the cost of getting to South Beach)... and you can too!

But first, let's look at the opposite side of the financial spectrum.

The ticket prices at the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival can be very steep--outrageous some might say. While the events are packaged up and divided well enough that it is possible to get in a pretty good festival experience on a budget, if you want to attend even a few of the bigtime parties and events you better be ready to throwdown... and Bobby Flay ain't footing any of the bill. I checked.

So, I thought it would be interesting to look at the price breakdown of an ultimate festival experience. After I pull the numbers I urge you all to call Suze Orman and ask "CAN I AFFORD IT?" (Let me know if she does approve any of you 'cause we need to meet.)

THE ULTIMATE SoBe FEST PACKAGE

This is what I'm guessing would be the average cost for a couple to travel to South Beach and attend several of the big festival events.

Economy Airfare for 2: $600
Hotel for 4 nights: $250/night (For a boutique hotel. Luxury ones will run you much more.)
Rachael Ray Burger Bash (2): $400
Wine Spectactor's Best of Best (2): $700
BubbleQ (2): $700
Grand Tasting on Saturday (2): $425
Tribute Dinner (2): $1050
Paula Deen Brunch (2): $250
Guy Fieri Closing Party (2): $150
Meals (not all events provide food): $200 (and that's being frugal)
Airport Transfers: $80 (cabs from MIA to South Beach are about $32/each way + tip)

... all that FOR A GRAND TOTAL OF: $5555!

Those are just some of the events that go on during this massive festival. I have no idea what the cost would be if you managed to go to multiple events, ditching one for another as the next one began, for the entire multi-day festival. Nuts!

So here's my little secret if you don't want to spend five grand on tickets, but still want to see some stars: stay at or stand outside of the Loews Miami Beach Hotel at 16th & Collins.

Over the years I've either seen or talked to Morimoto, Sunny Anderson, Tyler Florence, the Neelys, Al Roker, Alex Guarnaschelli, Michael Symon, Duff Goldman, Bobby Flay, and more... all while just hanging out in or around this hotel. If you're lucky enough to catch them when they're not in a hurry, you have a great chance of getting a photo, autograph, etc.

Getting that close really isn't that possible during the actual festival events. The crowds are intense and, as is the case with most of the more popular personalities, they aren't strolling around the beach unguarded all that much. Instead, they're whisked from their hotel to the event via golf carts.

To me, there's something a little less pathetic about bumping into someone into a hotel lobby and letting them know how much you enjoy their show than it would be to try and chase down a golf cart. ;-)

So that's tip #1 on how to save money in South Beach if you still want a small taste of the festival.

You could try to go to the tents the day after everyone leaves...



... but I wouldn't recommend it. Stay in (your expensive hotel room) and just watch Food Network.

******************

UPDATE: Sunny Anderson was nice to remind me that, although expensive, the festival benefits FIU’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Teaching Restaurant and the Southern Wine & Spirits Beverage Management Center. Lots of students are present and get hands-on experience and scholarships.

South Beach Wine & Food Fest 2010 -- Arrival and BubbleQ

Helloooooooo! Happy Monday, all. I'm on a bit of a high, and that's not just because I've yet to come down from what Sandra Lee may or may not have slipped into my cocktail at the 2010 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival.

I really wasn't planning on going again this year. While very fun, it can become a very busy weekend--one that doesn't feel much like a vacation after a while.

But then D.C. got more snow than I could possibly handle. We beat the 1898 record of 54.4 inches and even now still have a few more weeks for the chance of snow.

Sooooooooooo... I changed my mind. And what a good change it was.


Look at that beach! There just isn't a food festival in America that compares to SoBe, in my opinion. I'm sure Aspen has its perks and SoBe's sister fest in New York is very charming, but Miami definitely adds something to the overall experience that can't be matched.

The weather forecast was also another major decision factor in going again this year. While some years have been almost unbearable (I think two years ago it was in the 90s on the beach), the weekend's forecast was for days never higher than 70 degrees.

When we arrived it felt great in the sun, but was actually a little chilly if you were in the shade-- a concept entirely foreign to me after all my other visits to Miami.

Anyhow, for everyone that was in much colder environments all weekend who I'm sure are not interested in reading about me complain about "chilly' Miami weather of 50-something degrees, I'll get on to the parties!

BUBBLEQ

This year Emeril Lagasse hosted the giant, overwhelming, probably overpriced BubbleQ event on Friday night. The celebration that combines barbecue and champagne was held in a massive tented area right on the beach and featured a few less decorations, performers, and fancy displays than in years past. It almost felt like the recession had finally caught up with this event. I don't think first-time attendees would have noticed this, but I thought I'd throw that out there in case anyone else noticed.

The crowd still felt just as packed as ever, though. You really have to be ready to squeeze your way around and get your toes stepped on if you want to sample all of the fancy bites from such famous chefs as Michelle Bernstein, John Besh, Todd English, Aaron Sanchez, and many more.


My girl Sunny Anderson took the time to pose for pics with fans, which wasn't that easy of a feat since many of the Food Network stars stayed on a huge raised platform for most of the night, cordoned off by a velvet rope.


Ace of Cakes' Mary Alice was on her way up to said velvet rope area when we bumped into each other and were able to take this pic. Mary Alice has been one of my earliest supporters (and my FIRST Food Network interview), and it was great seeing her again.

And since the theme of barbecue and champagne might be a little too limiting for a $350/ticket event, wine by Graffigna was being poured and many fancy desserts were available for the taking.

I especially enjoyed this cupcake boy.


One thing that seemed missing was the host himself, Emeril! I never once saw him at his host tent, which was serving delicious pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw on onion rolls. This seemed very strange after previous hosts like Giada De Laurentiis (who worked the crowd and stood up for long hours while very pregnant) and Tom Colicchio were very present during the event.

All in all, it was a very fun party. And even though the champagne seemed a little less present (I couldn't find a bar with glasses to save my life) and there were no fire-eating dancers or other extras, it was a great start to my 2010 festival experience.

Food Network Addict Year in Review 2009 -- Part 1

I really can't believe it's the end of 2009... but I guess I say that every year. I should just get used to this whole racing toward death Gregorian calendar thing.

Soooo, as we prepare to down a couple buckets of Aunt Sandy's cocktails tomorrow night, let's look back on the year that was at Food Network Addict!

IN JANUARY...

Tyler Florence and Andrew Zimmern kicked off the year with a little hissy fit on Facebook.


After Tyler appeared on a show called "Momma's Boys," Zimmern referred to Tyler as the "least talented TV chef" among other things. Tyler hit back on Facebook, calling Zimmern "the guy who eats dried camel cock for a living." Yum-o!

... we pondered whether the Rachael Ray & John Cusimano-produced show Viva Daisy dazzled:


Answer: no.

... Bobby Flay's company got sued, we learned that an undercover FBI agent turned to Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis and Mario Batali to help "sound Italian", and I tried to figure out who wore Aretha's inauguration hat best:


I bet Bob will have one on next season of The Next Food Network Star!

...and Sandra Lee celebrated her magazine launch.

IN FEBRUARY...

We saw how good lighting can make someone look a little more like themselves on TV:


...Sandra Lee demonstrated her "burrito casserole" on GMA (put frozen burritos in dish and eat), I ran into Ingrid Hoffmann, the Neelys, Sunny Anderson, and Sandra Lee at the 2009 BubbleQ in South Beach.

IN MARCH...

I wrote more about the 2009 South Beach Wine & Food Festival and all the lovely sights:


...I got my picture taken with SandraFUCKINGLee!


... I got blinded by Guy Fieri's sunglasses:


... I made my very first Sandra Lee recipe (a crock pot buckle):


... and then went to a Semi-Homemade Party (only to stop at McDonald's afterward 'cuz I was hungry), and Duff & Tyler hit up HSN to sell their wares.

IN APRIL...

We saw Claire Robinson show off her best Rachael Ray faces:


... Paula Deen was featured on CMT's Cribs:


Of course. Also, "Chef" Sandra Lee tried to sell us some grilled chicken from KFC, Bobby Deen turned 39 years old, and we learned about new shows still yet to premiere in 2010.

IN MAY...

Giada De Laurentiis showed off baby Jade on Today:



... apparently a medical expert now, Paula Deen tried to convince us it was fine to eat pork and that we couldn't catch H1N1 from it, I reviewed the first episode of Sandra Lee's new show Money Saving Meals (and missed Semi-Homemade), Rachael and John did a few more awkward red carpet poses:



...Robert Irvine came BACK to Dinner: Impossible, after being replaced by Michael Symon, Sunny got a new "star-quality' do:



... and Ina had a finger-licking good time at the beach!



IN JUNE...

I did the first-ever interview that Bob Tuschman & Susie Fogelson had done together for The Next Food Network Star, Kate + 8 visited Charm City Cakes:


... Next Food Network star contestant Michael Proietti made a funny video poking fun at eventual winner Melissa d'Arabian (and then took it down):



... Susie Fogelson said contestants goodbye in style:


... and we learned that Guy Ferraridksdlkjfoi was no longer the spokesperson for Friday's.

**************

Stay tune for Part 2. It's been fun looking back on the crazy busy, changing year it was. Hope you enjoyed it!

-j

Video: Sandra Lee Comes Onstage at South Beach

Sandra Lee was a big hit with her "Raise your hand if you're hungover?" line down in South Beach. Love her!

What's Bobby Flay Saying?

After seeing Stephanie March (Bobby Flay's wife) reappear on Law & Order: SVU, I'm thinking Bobby must be saying, "You mean you actually got a job?"


Oh Steph. Don't take it personal. Not like you need to work now that Bobby's doing about 10 shows for Food Network.

I'm just partial to SVU's A.D.A Casey Novak, as opposed to your A.D.A. Alexandra Cabot character... but that could be because the same actress who played Casey also appeared in an early episode of SVU where she played a woman who gang raped a male stripper. Now, she's back on the show as the A.D.A. like nobody noticed! I love those Bewitched-esque TV switcheroos.

Food Network Addict Video Interview: Sunny Anderson

It was great hanging out with Sunny Anderson again down in South Beach after not seeing her since our last meetup in New York this past June. We sat down right before her second cooking demo and chatted about what goes into creating her recipes, what inspires her, and how she really feels about the nice (and not so nice) comments people make about her on this, and other, blogs.


Sorry if the audio is kind of screwy. We were in the greenroom and right as we sat down for this, Sandra Lee walked in to get interviewed by someone... so we had their chatter in the background... and THEN we get an unexpected guest at 5:23. Take a look.

Thanks again to Sunny! Look for her new episodes of Cooking for Real, Saturdays at 12pm/11c, Sundays at 10:30am/9:30c and Wednesdays at 1:30pm/12:30c.

Paula Deen Repeats the Dirty Joke She Did on Conan

Upon walking in to Paula's Poker Party down in South Beach, I thought, "Wow! Paula's working the gambling tables! And what's up with her hair?!"



Wasn't her, sadly. Although when she came out onstage the hair did look pretty similar.



Someone in the comments reminded me about the dirty joke I got recorded Paula Deen saying that I promised to post. Sorry for the delay! I checked out the audio on my video and it just isn't that good, sadly. I'll have to write it out instead.

I didn't see it, but evidently Paula whispered this to Conan O'Brian when she was a guest on his show.

And since it's so dirty, you'll have to highlight the area below if you want to see it:


- What's the difference between a nice girl and a good girl?
- A nice girl will help you stick it in, a good girl won't do it at all.

While not as funny as the one she told last year, Paula definitely got more "dirty" points this year. In fact, instead of a burst of laughter there was more like a reaction of shock and some polite chuckles.

Oh Pauler.

Food Network Addict Mini Chat: Ingrid Hoffmann

While down in Miami, I was able to chat briefly with Ingrid Hoffmann, star of Food Network's Simply Delicioso. While she's probably not the biggest star on Food Network USA right now, Ingrid has a huge following down in Miami, naturally. After I saw the line for her book signing stretched down the beach, I knew I had to chat with this chica chica.

One of the funniest things Ingrid mentioned actually happened while onstage during Cat Cora's demo. Ingrid revealed the loving nickname she calls the feline-named Iron Chef...


Pussy Chica!

(Pussy, like "Cat" Ingrid told us.)

Backstage I congratulated Ingrid on her own demo. This year, Ingrid got to take a stab at the BIG tent where regulars like Paula Deen and Rachael Ray have all the seats filled and onlookers spilling into the wings. (Does a beach have "wings" if it's set up kind of like a theater?)

Turns out it wasn't the crowd that was intimidating to Ingrid, but the language barrier. I had forgotten that doing an English demo might be challenging for her since she seems to pull her Food Network show off just fine. But Ingrid really seemed interested in finding out if she seemed better than the previous year, if she was still able to engage the crowd, and if her jokes still worked. ;-)

Ingrid had to take off quickly after that and decide if she was going to attend Bobby Flay's Oscar party that night. It was great chatting with her. Hope to see her more often.

Guy Fieri Continues To Bring the Coolness

Come on, Guy. Stop it!




Even Rachael Ray stopped wearing the too-tight mom jeans and tucked in long-sleeved t-shirts after a while. I think it's time you discontinue the sunglasses on the back of head style, mmmkay? Maybe donate them all to a charity?

Or here's another idea: have your "entourage" (which was present at this event down in SoBe) hold your sunglasses for you when you walk into a building. I mean, what are they getting paid for?

A Bittersweet Cocktail Time with Sandra Lee at SoBe

I was excited to attend Sandra Lee's "Cocktail Time" party down at SoBeWFF, thinking I might be able to snag a pic with the semi-homemade goddess that we all know and love... and after she told me about the "naked silver boys in little silver shorts" who would be present....

... and present they were:





I'm not really sure what they had to do with anything, but they certainly gave new meaning to "tablescape" design. All you need is a glorious sunset, near-perfect Miami temps, and naked silver peeps to set the mood!

We enjoyed the cocktails by Jose Cuervo and some of the appetizers that were being passed (by very regular looking people and not silver models). At one point (and you'll know this if you're following me on Twitter) we realized that they were all probably Sandra Lee recipes. One tasted like Digiorno pizza with some basil cut up on it. Another was cherry tomatoes with some bleu cheese stuffed into them. Another was something called raspberry chicken on a skewer. We weren't starving (thankfully) and indulged in more drinks than food.

Surprisingly, Sandy wasn't really drinking at all! She must control herself when she's on-call.


We got there a bit after it started, so I'm not sure if Sandra made any kind of grand entrance or announcement to the crowd. She was just posing for pictures with the crowd (very graciously, I must add) and handing out a few copies of her magazine. There was no music playing and the whole thing just seemed a bit of a downer, which is so shocking for Aunt Sandy! You'd think it would be wild and crazy! I mean, there were naked silver people standing right in front of us!

Still, she couldn't have been sweeter. It was an all right start for Sandra's first party at South Beach, but she's gonna need some pointers for next year (if there is one). I'm always available, Aunt Sandy!

PS- As one of my tweets pointed out, at one point they ran out of wine glasses AND white wine, so I ended up drinking red wine out of a plastic cup at the $100/ticket Sandra Lee party. Sounds about right!