The South Beach Wine & Food Festival always brings out the best in culinary creativity from a worldwide roster of James Beard Award winners and Michelin-starred chefs to Miami. This year, there’s even more delicious food to taste and refreshing drinks to sip when it takes place from Feb. 23-26. The town will be bustling with activations, pop-ups, brunches, tastings, happy hours and more. There are so many eventful moments happening throughout the city, that we’re rounding up all the highlights that you don’t want to miss.
Craft-y Happy Hour and Bites at Bayshore Club
Take a seat at the Bayshore Club, the new waterfront restaurant and bar in Coconut Grove for this walk-around event. South Beach Wine & Food Festival partnered with Vanderpump Rules stars and co-owners of L.A.’s hit Tom Tom Restaurant and Bar, Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz, to celebrate happy hour with spectacular food and drinks from Grove Bay Hospitality Group’s roster of prestige restaurants.
Craft-y Happy Hour and Bites at Bayshore Club will take place from 5:00-7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24.
FoodieCon
The Loews Miami Beach Hotel will host FoodieCon, a first-of-its-kind fête with digital content creators and influencers in the beverage community. The festival teamed up with Digital Brand Architects for a day filled with programming, social media-worthy cooking tutorials and interactive panels with immersive activations, book signings, and plenty of photo opts. It will all end with a poolside reception with leading culinary creators.
FoodieCon will take place from 10:00 – 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25.
Our Sunday Table: Jazz Brunch with The Grey and Friends hosted by Mashama Bailey
South Beach Wine & Food Festival and esteemed chef Mashama Bailey are partnering for Sunday brunch at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel. Bailey, who took home the James Beard Foundation’s top honor for Outstanding Chef, will curate a diverse lineup of chefs who demonstrate a wide range of cultures and cooking styles.
Our Sunday Table: Jazz Brunch with The Grey and Friends hosted by Mashama Bailey will take place from 11:30 – 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb.26.
Overtown EatUp!
Following the success of Harlem EatUp!, the food festival will highlight the rich community of food, music, arts and culture in Overtown. Hosted by James Beard Award-winning chef, television personality and cookbook author Marcus Samuelsson, he and fellow chef Amaris Jones will drum up a vibrant menu of flavors, and gather top-tier wines and cocktails from Sothern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits for the exciting walk-around tasting. Be prepared to enjoy the local cuisine and culture that’s embedded in the heart of the city’s Black history.
Overtown EatUp! will take place from 3:00-7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26.
ABSOLUT Vodka Presents Tea Dance and Drag Show Hosted by Kalen Allen
Lee Brian Schrager, the creator of South Beach Wine & Food Festival, got his start in Miami Beach in the late 1980s, founding restaurants like the iconic gay bar Torpedo, as well as The Spot on Española Way co-owned with actor and boxer Mickey Rourke, and CHOW. Fashion icons including Gianni Versace, Jean Paul Gaultier and Thierry Mugler frequented Torpedo in the 1990s, as well as supermodels who came along for parties at the Miami Beach institution and LGBTQ+ haven.
Now, drag brunch host Athena Dion and Grammy Award-winner Thelma Houston will pull out all the stops for a 40-year reunion party filled with drag performances, cocktails and more.
ABSOLUT Vodka Presents Tea Dance and Drag Show Hosted by Kalen Allen will take place from 4:00-6:00 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26.
