All stories about "Sobe"
NOSTRADAMUS: With 2008 Will Come the Return of Rocco Disiprito
One observation we haven't yet made about the 2008 South Beach Wine & Food Festival is that one Rocco Dispiritio was everywhere. At the demonstrations, cooking, gallivanting, schmoozing, smiling, self-promoting. You get the idea. But, wherever the 'fit'-looking former star of "The Restaurant" —and, let's be fair, three-star chef of Union Pacific— went, the crowds absolutely swarmed. At the Golden Clog Awards, for example, in the middle of the show, while Bourdain and Ruhlman were mid song and dance, a line formed on the side of the stage for Rocco pictures and autographs. For a guy who hasn't done a whole lot except push olive oil and cook in cafeterias, for the better part of three years. Impressive.
Which brings us to this.
Continue reading "NOSTRADAMUS: With 2008 Will Come the Return of Rocco Disiprito"
Hangover Observations: Sobe Wine & Food Festival
Sadly, our time down at the South Beach Food and Wine Festival has come to an end. It was a hectic but enjoyable weekend down in Miami, the land where it's always 1998. We recapped the Burger Bash and BubbleQ, along with live-blogging the controversial—and highly entertaining—Golden Clogs. Hell, Rachael "Dunkin Donuts" Ray and Alice Waters even had lunch together. While much of the rest of the weekend was and still is a blur (mission accomplished), plenty of notable tidbits came out of the festivities. Here, then, the rest of our observations from the weekend that was:
SobeWire: Scenes from the BubbleQ
Last night was the annual Bubble Q in South Beach, hosted by the lovely, and pregnant, Giada De Laurentiis. For $300 a ticket eaters got the opportunity — responsibility? — to sample the grill work of such luminaries as Tyler Florence, Zak Pelaccio (cooking last night, not consulting), Aaron Sanchez, and Rick Bayless. There were some wild card cooks as well, such as Al Roker and Katie Lee Joel. One useful metric we used to separate the cooks from the hookers: total elapsed time actually cooking. High marks for the aforementioned Pelaccio and Roker, for example; Florence, more of a working girl. The crowds were massive, the cooks enthusiastic, the Moet & Chandon Rose the only reasonable move to wash it down.
Sobe coverage bonanza, right this way.
SobeWire: Shake Shack Dethroned, Radius Takes Top Honors at Burger Bash
At last night's Burger Bash in South Beach, the most important event of the weekend for the top burger makers in the country, Radius, of Boston, took the title, beating out such places you may have heard of as The Burger Joint and Shake Shack. Interestingly, since this was a beach burger competition, the winning burger was a thick restaurant style patty, flavored with some horseradish and crispy onions and served on a brioche bun. Things we saw last night included ballot box stuffing at the Burger Joint, Tim Love dancing to the song "Love Shack" and Laurent Tourondel, BLT empire king, actually working his burger station.
Continue reading "SobeWire: Shake Shack Dethroned, Radius Takes Top Honors at Burger Bash"The Gatekeepers Sobe Edition: Lee Brian Schrager
This is The Gatekeepers, in which Eater roams the city meeting the fine ladies and gentlemen that stand between you and some of your favorite impossible-to-get tables. This time around, since all of South Beach is sold out, we thought you'd like to meet the only guy in town that can help you.
In South Beach, which has become a sold out madness of media, food celebrities and heavy drinkers festival attendees, there are very few people who can help you with last minute tickets. The big ticket events sold out in a matter of hours and even the scraps are gone. The burger bash, happening later tonight? Ain't happening for you, friend. The tribute dinner for Jean Georges, at which both the Mats and Wylie Dufrense will cook? Nopeski. The point is, don't come down to the festival without tickets. Unless you know festival founder and head honcho Lee Schrager (in which case, cool if we roll with you?).
Lee Brian Schrager: Every year my credential has a nickname. It has been the Big Cheese, Big Daddy, Master SommoLEEr. Who knows what it will be this year. 34,912 people will come through the festival this year. All our evnets will have massing crowds but Grand Tasting, BubbleQ, and Burger Bash will be extra full. Friday night, prime time. Where will we find you? Probably in traffic getting from Best of the Best downtown to BubbleQ on the beach. Can we come along? Yes, if traffic is bad you may need to pull the Rickshaw. Okay if we drop your name at the door?
Continue reading "The Gatekeepers Sobe Edition: Lee Brian Schrager"Live from South Beach: 1,000 Chefs, 1 Mile of Beach, 1 Day Out
The 2008 South Beach Wine & Food Festival kicks off later today, with tomorrow being when the main show, the Grand Tasting Village opens. Beginning right now, with a photo dispatch from the beach, we're on the ground until Sunday for you—for you, not for us because the weather is nice, or we've already been offered three cocktails or because JGV and The Mats are en route.
Round the clock South Beach coverage can be had here.
SobeWire: Tony Bourdain Handicaps the Golden Clog Awards, Part II
On Friday, the first annual Golden Clog Awards will be doled out at the 2008 South Beach Wine & Food Festival. This trophy show, the premie baby of Michael Ruhlman and Tony Bourdain's darkest places and booziest nights, are an alternate universe version of the Beard Awards, complete with real categories, nominees and, for each winner, a statuette for mantelpiece display. Since the emcees of the Golden Clogs here are two of the biggest names in food, their deliberately lo-fi laser light show spectacular may prove one of the hottest tickets on the beach.
On Monday, we caught up with Bourdain, who was kind enough to break down the categories and nominees for us. Read on for his thoughts on the field, plus some bonus ruminating on the ideal Bourdain awards show, the seating chart and the all-important after party.
SobeWire: Tony Bourdain Handicaps the Golden Clog Awards, Part I
On Friday, the first annual Golden Clog Awards will be doled out in South Beach. These, the premie baby of Michael Ruhlman and Tony Bourdain's darkest places and booziest nights, are an alternate universe version of the Beard Awards, complete with real categories, nominees and, for each winner, a statuette for mantelpiece display. Since the emcees of the Golden Clogs here are two of the biggest names in food, their deliberately lo-fi laser light show spectacular may prove one of the hottest tickets at South Beach.
Yesterday, we caught up with Bourdain, who was kind enough to break down the categories and nominees for us, in this, the first annual Golden Clog Awards. And away we go.
SobeWire: The 2008 Golden Clog Nominees Announced!
Michael Ruhlman and Tony Bourdain have concocted The Golden Clog Awards (Ruhlman has previously announced as much on his blog), a quirky little awards event born out of "too many beers and late night yakitori," as Bourdain explained to Eater yesterday. The awards ceremony, or "awards ceremony," will take place this Friday at 2:00 PM in Miami Beach, as part of the 2008 South Beach Wine & Food Festival, which does lend a certain, frightening air of credibility to the proceedings. Later today we'll bring you a chat with Bourdain about the whole shebang, but at this time, may we present the official list of nominees in the first annual Golden Clog Awards (official statuette above).
SobeWire: 2008 Wine & Food Fest Tickets On Sale Today
Eater is the official blog of the 2008 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival. We'll be brining you the SobeWire, news, anticipation and such on the festival as the annual event draws closer. Plus, in February, the 21st to 24th, we'll be on location for you in South Beach, getting you serious access to all the boozy debauchery as it happens—and even doing some reportage on the proceedings, too.
Tickets go on sale today for the 2008 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival, one of the biggest eating and drinking events in the country and the everyman's answer to the Classic in Aspen. All the food biggies are attending, including Flay, Batali, Florence, Lagasse, JGV, and, unless you are foolish enough to try and stay sober through it all, it promises to be quite a show. In South Beach, while you can get a all-in pass, you can also buy tickets to events a la carte, which isn't a bad thing. View all the Sobe events here, or click fast to secure tickets to the annual Burger Bash, hosted by Rachel Ray; or how about the Mario Batali/Jamie Oliver dinner at Devito South Beach (or for 50 bucks you can attend the afterparty); and, for high rollers, the big show is the Tribute Dinner honoring Jean-Georges Vongerichten, with food prepared by Michel Richard (Citronelle), Guy Savoy (Restaurant Guy Savoy), Nobu Matsuhisa (Nobu), Wylie Dufresne (WD-50), and Jacques Torres (Jacques Torres Chocolate). With apologies, however, tickets for the Tony Bourdain/Rachael Ray cage match are not yet available.
· Let the Buzz Begin [Sobe; .pdf]
· 2008 Sobe Wine & Food Festival Tickets [sobewineandfoodfest.com]
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