Reviews

South Beach Wine & Food Festival (aka SOBE WFF) Part One

March 6, 2012

Arriving in Miami on the first flight out of New York on Friday morning was heavenly. We found somewhere to eat on Ocean Drive and even though there was a mouthful of cling film in my food as I chewed the first bite of my seafood linguine, the cool sea breeze coupled with the liberating warmth was a great start to the weekend.

Seafood Linguine with a little surprise

The first event to kick off the weekend was ‘Party Impossible’. We waited in one stagnant line to trade our tickets for blue bands before going into another line to wait over an hour. After hearing rumours that the event had been over booked, eventually the police gave us permission to walk up seven floors to get to the event.

Over a hundred people began walking and I joked about the great cardio I was getting from walking in 4” heels. We got to level six of the Mall’s parking lot when a security guard said he could not allow us to go up to the seventh floor because the overcapacity is a fire hazard. People began running for the two elevators in sight as though they were running from Armageddon. When we made it to the party it was practically empty and as soon as I stepped off the elevator I saw people I knew from Jamaica.

The crowd waiting for entry

To sum up Party Impossible briefly is quite simple. The wait was unacceptable. The limited food was disappointing since after all there is only so much cheese and bread one can stomach. The two inadequate bars was serving one Pino Grigio, one Pino Noir and Tequila, there was a Prosecco booth offering a bitter version of the sparkling wine I usually enjoy and the OR-G booth caught my eye with the orange fruity presentation of the liqueur but failed to deliver on taste. The desserts tasted like box cake with icing that was too sweet. You could barely hear the music and without dancing there was no party. On a more positive note Robert Irvine was humble and funny in person. After having to find my way into the event through the ‘back door’ I left after about an hour.

Acrobat serving Prosecco upside down

The second day in South Beach brought the best meal of the weekend. We went to Scarpetta at Fontainebleau. I enjoyed steak tartare, followed by a duck and foie gras ravioli and ended with a complimentary banana soufflé. In short, the service was comforting and the food was delicious.

Steak Tartare

Duck & Foie Gras Ravioli

Banana Soufflé

To be continued…..

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