Get your drink on while satisfying your sweet tooth at the Miami Ultimate Bartender & Dessert competition

On Friday, June 17, some of the city’s brightest mixologists and culinary artists will go head-to-head at the fifth Ultimate Miami Bartender & Dessert competition, hosted this year at Magic City Casino. Each Ultimate contender will have the chance to showcase his or her culinary or craft cocktail creations with attendees while vying for a cash prize of $5,000 and earning the distinction of Ultimate Miami Bartender or Ultimate Miami Dessert.

Along with tasting the contenders’ creations, the audience will also enjoy a concert starting Latin freestyle artists TKA, Canadian nu-wave duo Lime and South Florida feestyle vixen Debbie Deb. This season’s participants include:

Ultimate Miami Bartender Finalists

Michael Alburene – Il Vaporetto/The Local Craft Food & Drink

Anita Bogacz – Stache 1920s Drinking Den

Nicole Guzman – Dragonfly

Sergey Borisov – Aperio Bar & Kitchen

Patricia Noorzai – Sugar Factory

Tajma Darlington – Club VIP/Xstacy

Luis Garcia – The Gang

Roger Moreno – Score Nightclub

Ultimate Miami Dessert Finalists

Jerrod Dudley – John Knox Village 

Serita Sterling – Ritz-Carlton South Beach

Mayra Franco – Cake Projection Performance 

Max Santiago – The Salty Donut Artisanal Donut Shoppe and Coffee Bar

Christian Guevara – dBakers, LLC

Guillaume Vella – Le Macaron

Maxine Mira – The Sarsaparilla Club at The Shelborne Hotel

Tickets to attend the competition are $40 and include eight drinks samples and eight dessert samples. VIP tables start at $300 for four guests. Tickets and VIP service can be purchased here. Attendees must be 21 and over. 

This story was originally published June 8, 2016 at 4:06 AM.