Burgers, Gloria Estefan, and a New Times Pickleball Winner: Highlights From SOBEWFF '24

The 23rd South Beach Food & Wine Festival (SOBEWFF) in Miami is officially in the books — and what a delicious festival it was.

The 2024 installation of the four-day festival gave us a Tribute Dinner honoring Italian master chef Massimo Bottura, a slew of collaborative and intimate dinners bringing together the likes of Jeremy Ford and John Fraser, and, yes, Guy Fieri sloshing around Santo Tequila at seemingly every turn and event he graced.

Amid more than 100 events crunched into four days (February 22-25), here are four highlights from SOBEWFF ’24.

A Very Miami Burger Bash

As with the bulk of the Miami Beach Signature Events held on the sand under massive white tents this year – Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives; Tacos & Tequila; and the Block Party being among them – the Burger Bash hosted by Rachael Ray on Thursday evening was absolutely packed.

Perhaps too much so, as lines bordering uncomfortably long stretched across the entire tent for the likes of morsels from treasured smashed burger pop-up Ted’s Burgers and rising Wynwood hotspot Skinny Louie (both listed in New Times' list of best smash burgers in Miami), and Motek Cafe (New Times' best kosher restaurant of 2023), all Miami staples. During the peak of the $275-a-ticket event, wait times neared 25 to 30 minutes long to snag a morsel, but there was plenty of Stella Artois to keep folks in line occupied.

A star-studded panel of judges, including supermodel Kate Upton, rap icon Rev. Run, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia stars Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton, picked local pop-up Cowy Burger for the Very Best Burger Award, while South Florida-based Pincho took home the coveted People’s Choice Award for a record-breaking third time for its "Jalapeño Delight" burger.

The Design District Becomes the Steak District

Four memorable events comprised the Miami Design District Event Series held in Jungle Plaza, bringing out the likes of Dario Cecchini for A Taste of Italy and Kardea Brown hosting a fried chicken and Champagne shindig.

A highlight was the Steak and Whiskey event on Friday, hosted by The Chew’s Michael Symon. The chef mingled with fans, took photos, and, to kick off the evening, hilariously pointed up to the sky and said, “There goes Guy Fieri, heading home...it’s past his bedtime.” (Guy Fieri stuck around the entire weekend, with his Santo Tequila, for the record.)

The morsels offered at the event spanned slow-cooked barbecue with truffle mac & cheese to fall-off-the-bone steak served over poblano-loaded mashed potatoes. Fort Lauderdale-based Steak 954, Quinto Miami, and Farmhouse Barbecue were some of the vendors serving up the goods.

Notably – for an event billed as having “more than 20 of the country’s greatest chefs” – only two restaurant participants were from outside of South Florida, Newport Mansions and Pat’s King of Steaks. The Cheez Whiz-loaded cheesesteaks from Pat’s easily made up for the general lack of geographic diversity, however.

A Familiar New Times Writer Achieves SOBEWFF Pickleball Glory

For a second year, Hunter Fieri and Tara Bernstein hosted the Celebrity Chef Pickleball Tournament at Miami Beach Golf Club. The field included 21 teams comprised of national and local food personalities, with the likes of Marcus Samuelsson, Jet Tila, Diego Oka, and Bryan and Michael Voltaggio participating. The event was sponsored by Whispering Angel, which was free-flowing.

Jeff Mauro emceed the Saturday morning sporting event alongside hosts Fieri and Bernstein; Tila and partner Brian Lando; Samuelsson and Oka; and a beloved New Times food writer, Jesse Scott, and his wife, Lisa, making the final four.

The longtime New Times writer and his wife took home the gold over Tila and Landow in the final match with a score of 11-6. This marks the second year that Miami media professionals and personalities have stepped up in the pickleball tournament. George Arango, also known as Mr. Eats 305, won the whole shebang last year.

Gloria Estefan, DJ Khaled, and Rick Ross Rock the Grand Tasting Village

Always the most sprawling spectacle of the entire SOBEWFF lineup, the Grand Tasting Village rocked on multiple fronts in ’24. Honorable mentions go out to the onstage entertainment experiences that were curated by Only in Dade on Saturday, February 24, and David Grutman on Sunday, February 25, which were both the places to be.

Saturday gave Miami attendees a surprise musical appearance on the Only in Dade stage by none other than Gloria and Emilio Estefan who joined DJ Cassidy for a “Conga” sing-along of the hit song. Then, on Sunday, Rick Ross popped in to rock alongside his buddy DJ Khaled as part of the David Grutman Experience.

And, of course, there were endless bites and booze options at the Grand Tasting Village, spanning Peruvian ceviche shooters from Ceviches by Divino to margarita-loaded mini Patrón bottles from Patrón. The Patrón line was long and strong, as were the drinks.

Nevertheless, the most special aspect of attending SOBEWFF is knowing all proceeds go towards a good cause, benefitting the Florida International University Chaplin School of Hospitality Tourism & Management. It’s events like SOBEWFF that keep our culinary scene strong, and we can all feel good knowing this event only inspires and fuels the next generation of big-time event makers in our backyard.