At the South Beach Wine and Food Festival Jewish Chefs Have a Place at the Table

by Sara Liss

Cookbook author Jake Cohen will be at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival Photo courtesy of SOBEWFF

The South Beach Wine and Food Festival returns to its iconic white tents on the sands alongside the Atlantic Ocean featuring a bevy of chefs, food personalities, mixologists, and winemakers in attendance - and among them Jewish and Israeli chefs who are shaping the national food scene.

Widely recognized as one of the biggest gourmet gatherings, the four-day festival brings together Food Network personalities and more than 500 chefs and wine and spirits producers for a cornucopia of events.

And in a year when many Jewish and Israeli chefs have been feeling the tension that Israel’s war on Hamas has wrought on their industry, the events at this year’s festival will hopefully be a respite from negativity.

On the docket for this year’s festival is a kosher dinner hosted by Miami baker Zak Stern, an Israeli breakfast master class led by chef Sam Gorenstein of Abbalé Telavivian Kitchen, and a champagne dim sum brunch hosted by Jewish Food Network star Molly Yeh. New York Times best-selling author Jake Cohen will be featured prominently at this year’s FoodieCon event, a summit celebrating culinary content creators with panel talks and food demos. And Friday night’s “Best of the Best” event will feature Jewish culinary trailblazers Tom Aviv who recently opened Israeli restaurant Branja (named Best Restaurant of 2023 by Eater Miami) as well as Miami-based chef Isaac Perlman of PERL.

While the South Florida community has not been immune to the controversies of the war, Jewish and kosher restaurants here have seemed less prone to harassment than in other parts of the country - namely, Michael Solomonov, whose restaurant Goldie in Philadelphia was the target of anti-Israel protests.

For Lee Brian Schrager, founder and director of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, the inclusion of kosher events and Israeli chefs is a reflection of the strong Jewish presence in Miami. “It’s South Florida, there’s a big Jewish audience here, and the same way we have an Indian dinner or a vegetarian dinner, we cater to the community.”

Schrager is also the founder of the New York City Wine and Food Festival which, over the past two decades, combined with the South Beach festival, have collectively raised more than $50 million for their respective benefiting charities. “Our focus is always on being inclusive,” says Schrager. “We have a lot of diversity in our programming with the drag brunch, the JJ Johnson cookout, and the Overtown event with Marcus Samuelsson. We’re always trying to do things that appeal to our local community.” He added that a benefit of having lesser-known chefs participating in the festival is the ability to reach an audience they may not otherwise have. “One of the best things about participating in the festival is that they get out in front of people who haven’t yet been to their restaurants. Our events introduce people to diverse talent from all over the country, predominantly from Miami.”

This is true of the kosher dining audience, who are sometimes left out of the culinary fireworks more commonly displayed in non-kosher settings. The kosher dinner hosted by Zak Stern, also known as Zak the Baker, teams him up with local chefs Timon Balloo who is of Chinese, Indian-Trinidadian heritage, and Nando Chang, who presides over a Peruvian Japanese sushi bar.

For Stern, the chance to cook a kosher dinner at the festival is an opportunity for representation. “I think the festival understands that South Florida has a thriving Jewish community that’s passionate about food, culture, and tradition,” says Stern. “South Florida has over half a million Jews, that’s a bonafide diaspora that deserves its place at the Food and Wine Festival in Miami.”

For cookbook author and self-proclaimed “nice Jewish boy from NYC” Jake Cohen, participation in the festival is an extension of his lifelong mission of celebrating Jewish food. “What I’m focused on is proudly sharing a love of food, a love of Jewish culture, and pride in Israel,” says Cohen. The crowd for FoodieCon, which appeals to those more likely to get food inspiration from TikTok and Instagram, will likely skew younger and is more likely to be immersed in social media than the usual ticket-holders at the festival. And while Cohen has always been a vocal advocate for the Jewish community through his large social media reach, the events of October 7th found him navigating promotional outreach for his latest cookbook - “I Could Nosh” - amid Israel’s war. “My energy is best suited towards invigorating pride in our community. Especially at a moment like this when people want to turn inward or hide. This is my time to double-down on what I do - to turn to Shabbat, to ritual, to cooking,” says Cohen. “My recipes are all rooted in the diaspora. You can’t separate it from the story of Israel and our journey throughout history.” He’s excited to break challah with fellow chefs and to serve his potato kugel to festival-goers. “Food is a unifying force,” says Cohen.

For tickets to the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, visit sobewff.org.