The 2014 South Beach Wine & Food Festival took place in Miami this weekend. Comeback kid Paula Deen was there, and also there were a bunch of swimsuit models for some reason. Daniel Boulud, Eric Ripert and Francois Payard made old-fashioned high class ocean liner food, burgers were bashed, Big Gay Ice Cream got everyone high on sugar and blow up plastic unicorns, and more. Check it out below, and for an on-the-ground report, head over to Eater Miami:
Paula Deen
[Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty]
It seems that South Beach was the debut of the Paula Deen Comeback Tour, with the beleaguered ex-Food Network person making festival appearances alongside her sons. At a beachside appearance with Robert Irvine, she told the crowd "I am not a quitter." The AP reports she also took the time to apologize, kind of: "I have heard on more than one occasion ... that I've never apologized. So if anybody did not hear me apologize, I would like to apologize to those who did not hear me."
Although she did not specify what she was apologizing for, Deen's career imploded after some leaked deposition transcripts revealed racist statements she had made. Deen's "apology" was rather vague, but her son Bobby Deen got a lot more specific in an interview with Zagat: "I don't think there's really anything to forgive. I don't think that my mom did anything that has to be forgiven. I have to be careful because I could get passionate and just start talking about this and say things I shouldn't." He also blamed our "country of headline readers" for forming opinions on his mom too quickly.
Anyway, after that Deen decided it was time to do a reprise of her 2011 stunt in which she rode Robert Irvine like a horse. For the brave, here's a video of Deen riding Irvine in 2014. NSFW?
Video: Paula Deen Rides Robert Irvine at SOBE
Bourdain's Ocean Liner Dinner
Anthony Bourdain put together "a tribute to first-class transcontinental dining," featuring chefs like Daniel Boulud, Eric Ripert and Francois Payard cooking old-school ship cuisine. Dishes included oeuf en gelée and pithivier of pheasant; you can check out a bunch of lovely photos over at PopSugar.
8th Annual Burger Bash
[Photo: Food Network]
At the 8th annual Burger Bash, Michael Symon's B Spot won the People's Choice Award for a burger with "coleslaw, pastrami, Castello-aged Havarti cheese with stadium mustard." Judges Favorite went to Shake Shack for their crispy beer-marinated shallot and ShakeSauce-topped burger. Check out the burgery madness here:
Video: Highlights From Burger Bash
Other SOBEWFF Media Coverage
· Photos From the Big Gay Ice Cream Social [World Red Eye]
· Chefs and swimsuit models volley for charity [AP]
· Marc Forgione: Famous name didn't pave the way [AP]
· Chef Daniel Boulud built empire for the future [AP]
· Ruth Reichl draws on Gourmet as novel inspiration [AP]
· Barbara Lynch looks to put Boston on culinary map [AP]
· Winemaker, hospitality giant honored at festival [AP]