Alex Guarnaschelli Takes on Miami
The chef is hosting two events at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival
The South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF) commences tomorrow for its 24th weekend of food and drink under the warm Miami Beach sun.
SOBEWFF features more than 105 events jammed into four fun (and wine) fueled days and takes over most of South Beach, also expands its footprint to mainland Miami for a host of dinners, brunches, and parties.
The festival is best known for attracting a robust roster of chefs who cook, schmooze, and generally have as good (if not better) a weekend as the festival’s guests. Chef Alex Guarnaschelli’s appearances are an annual highlight of SOBEWFF. The Food Network personality is known for her culinary skills and quick wit that’s sometimes sharper than the knives she uses in the kitchen.
This year, Guarnaschelli hosts two unique events at the festival. At Alex vs. Miami, Guarnaschelli is joined by Eric Adjepong at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel on Thursday, February 20 for a culinary showdown that features some of Miami’s best chefs competing to create the best dishes.
On Friday, February 21, Guarnaschelli will co-host a dinner with Loews Miami Beach Hotel’s Christopher Aguierre and her daughter Ava Clark at Preston’s at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel.
The chef will also make an appearance at Saturday’s FoodieCon at the Mondrian South Beach, and will then host a culinary demo at the Grand Tasting Village the same day.
Broken Palate caught up with the Iron Chef to get the inside intel on what to expect at the festival and get some much-appreciated festival tips from a SOBEWFF pro.
Broken Palate: What can we expect to see at Alex vs. Miami? It's a play on your show, Alex vs. America, but are you competing? Are the participating chefs competing? Please share.
Alex Guarnaschelli: Eric Adjepong and I are competing in that we are all cooking dishes, and there will be winners announced based on the judges’ favorites.
The idea behind it is similar to the show. In Alex Vs. America I am invited to compete against chefs from all over the United States. We wanted that same feeling here in South Beach by making it about local chefs.
Miami is a city packed with talent and showcasing what all that can look like under one roof against me is an exciting thought. There are also a number of other Food Network talent coming--Kardea Brown, Jeff Mauro, Aarti Sequeira, Geoffrey Zakarian, and others--it's a star-studded affair!
BP: You are also co-hosting a dinner with your daughter, Ava Clark (and the Loews' Christopher Aguirre). What do you have planned?
AG: Ava and I have the privilege of cooking together here and of course, she had a large hand in the menu. We are sharing the stage with the esteemed chef, Christopher, from the Loews Hotel. Ava and I are making half of the hors d'oeuvres and every other course for the dinner. We will be on hand to greet guests and usher them through this fun culinary experience, too. I think Ava is pretty excited to cook most of all. She's a fantastic cook who does it out of love as a hobby.
BP: Do you plan on eating at any local Miami restaurants while you're here? Any place -- new or old -- that you're looking forward to?
AG: We are going to Zak The Baker because we always do. Ava wants to try Sangwich de Miami. I want to go to Michelle Bernstein's restaurant, Sra. Martinez.
BP: You're a SOBEWFF regular -- any strategies for eating and drinking at the festival to make the weekend the best?
AG: It depends on what events you're attending. I would make a map of these few days and remember to eat breakfast. Sometimes saving up all your room for these events leaves you so hungry that you overeat! Pace yourself until you can't pace yourself.