South Beach food fest had a different vibe at the start. See the scene

The South Beach Wine & Food Festival didn’t start in South Beach.

In 1997, the annual event made its debits as the Florida Extravaganza on the north campus of Florida International University in North Miami. It remained there until 2002, when it moved to the sands of SoBe and renamed.

The first festival at FIU was so under the radar that there is no record of coverage in the Miami Herald archives. A short story in 1998 mapped out the second festival.

Here’s a look in words and pictures at how the world famous food fest got its start at FIU and then the first year in South Beach:

When the food fest moved to South Beach

First published Nov. 24, 2002

When the South Beach Wine & Food Festival debuted in March on the sandy shores of Miami Beach as an outgrowth of the Florida Extravaganza that Florida International University had hosted for five years, festival director Lee Brian Schrager made a vow: “We hope to be on a par with the Aspen festival.”

No small ambition. The Aspen Classic, which each June since 1983 has brought hundreds of wineries and up to 5,000 visitors to that Colorado ski town, is considered the premier event of its kind by many wine aficionados - bringing in top winemakers, superstar chefs, even Hollywood celebs.

The 2003 SoBe event, Feb. 28-March 2, has taken a major step toward its goal, luring Aspen’s big-name sponsor, Food & Wine magazine. The magazine’s VP for marketing, Christina Grdovic, was in Miami Beach earlier this month at a kickoff event.

“We’ve been asked many times to recreate the Aspen festival in other cities, but we’ve always said no,” she said. “But our editor-in-chief [Dana Cowin] was at the Miami Beach festival last year, and she had a really great time. So here we are.”

Grdovic predicts great things.

“The one thing the Miami Beach festival can do that Aspen can’t is grow. Aspen is a small town without enough hotel rooms or air flights.”

Not that growing fast is always a good thing. One thing the SoBe Fest is working on is crowd control. Last year, the waiting line at an $80-per-person Dom Perignon Champagne tasting tent got so long that New York magazine restaurant critic Harold Rubenstein was led away in handcuffs, allegedly for trying to push his way in past a Miami Beach cop.

This year, the festival’s biggest event, the Grand Tasting, will be held over two days, with a trade-only tasting on Saturday and a public tasting on Sunday.

“This will make things a lot more leisurely, and it will eliminate 1,000 people from the tasting tent on Sunday,” says Schrager, who also is director of special events for Southern Wine & Spirits, the festival’s host sponsor along with FIU.

Heading the list of stars at the 2003 festival is the legendary Alice Waters of Berkeley’s Chez Panisse, who will hold public cooking seminars and be honored at a March 2 lunch as “the most influential person in the past 30 years of the American kitchen.”

On Friday, Feb. 28, the festival will recreate last year’s eccentric but popular pairing of champagne and barbecue, this time under the culinary supervision of chef Norman Van Aken, in an event called “New World Bubble Q,” at the Delano Hotel. The champagne sponsor is Moët & Chandon. NBC Today weatherman Al Roker will attend, assuring the festival time on that morning show.

Saturday, March 1, will see wine seminars at Hotel Inter-Continental in Miami by Au Bon Climat, Krug Champagne, Beringer-Blass Wine Estates, Dominus, Ridge, Arieta, Lancaster and others.

That evening, wine dinners will be held at 19 restaurants including Pacific Time, Blue Door at the Delano and the Atlantic Restaurant at Beach House. Diners will be served by each restaurant’s own chef plus a guest, from Julian Seranno of Picasso in Las Vegas to Ming Tsai of Blue Ginger in Boston. Each dinner will have its own winery sponsor, from Dominus to Far Niente.

Saturday will also feature for-the-trade-only wine seminars from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and a private wine tasting from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Grand Tasting Village Tent at Lummus Park, Ocean Drive and 10th Street.

The public event is Sunday, March 2 - a grand wine tasting plus seminars, cooking demonstrations and chats with chefs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., featuring Waters, Andrea Immer, Alton Brown, Todd English, Bobby Flay, Roxanne Klein and others.

Lineup for the first food fest in South Beach

First published March 10, 2002

Champagne and barbecue?

Well, you’ve got to think outside the box when you’re trying to turn Miami Beach into “the Aspen of the South,” which is to say one of the nation’s biggest, most glittery wine-and-food fests.

The official name for next weekend’s event is the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. It’s a bigger and, promoters vow, better version of the Florida Extravaganza that has been hosted by Florida International University on its North Dade campus for the past five years.

This time they’re pouring the wares of 200 international wineries, breweries, distilleries and coffee producers, up 30 percent from previous years. They have such icons as chef Alain Ducasse, who stunned the culinary world in 2000 with his $160-a-plate prix-fixe menu at Manhattan’s Essex House hotel.

This time they’re grabbing for glamour by moving to South Beach, with wine and food seminars at Loew’s Hotel, an audacious, $200-per-person champagne and barbecue dinner at the Delano, a $75 Sunday brunch at Smith & Wollensky and a series of seminars and tastings, both paid and free, in tents at Lummus Park.

They’ve hired a New York P.R. firm, The Hall Co., in addition to Shapiro and Zarikian of Miami, are advertising in Wine Spectator magazine and The New York Times, and are working out deals to sell packages to American Express platinum cardholders. Romero Brito created signature artwork for the posters and invitations.

“We hope to be on a par with the Aspen festival,” says Lee Schrager, festival director and head of special events for Southern Wine & Spirits. “We hope to make it a destination for people from New York. It takes so long to fly to Aspen or Napa. With South Beach, they could get off work at 2 p.m., be on a plane by 4 and be checked into a hotel here by 8.

“We want to attract newer, sexier groups,” says Schrager. “We think we can pick up the national tourist crowd.”

They’re bringing in nationally known food writers John Mariani of Esquire, Hal Rubenstein of New York Magazine and Florence Fabricant of The New York Times.

“Last year people like this wouldn’t even look at the invitation,” says Schrager. “This year they’re all over it. The name South Beach sells it.”

The reorganized festival is the brainchild of three groups: Southern, which is always seeking ways to promote its vendors; Florida International University, where it fits with president Modesto “Mitch” Maidique’s drive to move the university “out of its buildings and into the community;” and the city of Miami Beach, which is seeking a tourism boost.

The idea is not without peril. FIU this year took over the Miami Film Festival, moved it to Miami Beach - and suffered a 58 percent drop in attendance as local film buffs declined to cross the causeways and sent its new director packing.

Schrager is undeterred: “I think we can expand on our audience by moving off the campus and playing up the words South Beach.”

It’s not without competition, either. The well-established Biltmore Great South Florida Wine Festival takes place April 12-14 with fewer winemakers but a more ambitious auction benefiting the Baptist and South Miami hospital foundations and United Way of Miami-Dade. (The South Beach event benefits FIU’s School of Hospitality.) Charlie Trotter leads the Biltmore’s celebrity-chef lineup.

While the South Beach festival is reaching high with its 200 producers, two dozen seminars, lunches and dinners and hopes of luring 3,500 fans to its Sunday auction and grand tasting, it has a way to go to catch Aspen.

The Food & Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen, Colo., attracts 300 producers, 80 seminars and 5,000 fans. Still, it started small, in 1983, as a purely local event - “200 people sitting on a mountain drinking wine,” says spokeswoman Sheri Heedum.

And it’s a worthy goal.

“There’s no question it’s a financial boon to Aspen,” says Larry Thorson, the city’s finance director. “We used to virtually close down during that season.”

“It appeals to multimillionaires,” Thorson says. “It’s not unusual to see Fess Parker [TV’s one-time Davy Crockett, now a California winery owner] walking down the street arm-in-arm with Wolfgang Puck. These are people who stay at the most expensive places, eat out every night, buy the most expensive wines.”

Still, champagne and barbecue?

On Friday night, 350 diners will pay $200 each to guzzle Moet & Chandon on the beach at the Delano (casual dress, comfortable shoes) while eating a barbecue dinner prepared by a team of grill masters from around the country led by Miami’s Steven Raichlen, author of The Barbecue Bible.

“Moet has been trying for a long time to convince people that champagne is for everyday foods and not just for caviar and smoked salmon,” says festival spokesman Terry Zarikian.

In a more traditional event (business attire), patrons who pay $300 each at Loews will rub elbows with Michael (and possibly Robert) Mondavi and dine on a meal prepared by Ducasse and chefs Nobuyuki “Nobu” Matsuhisa, Todd English, Gary Danko, Cindy Pawlcyn and Francois Payard.

In the festival’s biggest event (beachside casual, flip-flops), up to 3,500 guests will sip wine, beer, liquors, coffees and waters from 200 producers and sample dishes from 75 local restaurants supervised by Mark Militello of Mark’s South Beach, Allen Susser of Chef Allen’s and Norman Van Aken of Norman’s in a 50,000-square-foot tent at Lummus Park, 10th and Ocean Drive. A live auction will feature such goodies as a five-liter bottle of 1975 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild and dinner with Dan Marino.

They’ve made it casual, with kids invited (for the waters, sodas and snacks), and cut the price to $40 from last year’s $75.

They’re counting on good weather.

“Rain?” gasps Schrager. “We’re not even saying that word.”

The final Florida Extravaganza at FIU

First published Jan. 28, 2001

The Fifth Annual Florida Extravaganza is gearing up for its food celebration Feb. 9-11, expanding to three full days of wine and food tastings, dinners and seminars that will feature prominent figures in the international wine, spirits and culinary industries.

All events are open to the public and net proceeds will benefit the Southern Wine & Spirits Beverage Management Studies Endowment at the School of Hospitality Management at Florida International University, located at the Biscayne Bay campus at Northeast 151st Street and Biscayne Boulevard in North Miami. Several ancillary events are slated to take place off-campus. Following is a schedule of confirmed events to date.

February 9: Salute to Women in the Culinary Arts, FIU School of Hospitality Management, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are priced at $200 per person, and business attire is specified. The evening pairs South Florida’s female culinary talents with FIU students to prepare a dinner with wines provided by the evening’s hosts, Sterling Vineyards and Seagram Chateau and Estate Wines Co.“

A Salute to Women in the Culinary Arts” will feature South Florida’s rising and established female chefs including Elizabeth Barlow (The Blue Door/Delano), Michelle Bernstein (Azul/Mandarin Oriental), Andrea Curto (Wish/The Hotel), Hedy Goldsmith (Nemo), Cindy Hutson (Ortanique), Barbara Scott (Red Square), Donna Wynter (Donna’s Bistro), Eve Montella-Smith (Armadillo Cafe), Daphne Macias and Ceci Seitz (Tantra) and Carmen Gonzalez (Silver Spoon Cuisine).

Culinary coordinators for the event are Debra Lundy of The Delano and Wendy Kallergis of the Miami City Club. Attendance will be limited to 250 guests.

February 10: Florida Extravaganza 2001 Seminars, FIU Wolf Center Ballroom - Biscayne Bay Campus, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets for the seminars are $175 per person.

Some of the many estates in the wine world will be presenting their wines in a day-long event, including vertical tastings from Mouton Rothschild, Chateau Montelena and Jordan Vineyards. Additionally, a Syrah/Shiraz seminar is planned with winemakers from several properties. All the wines in the seminar will be served in Riedel glassware. Lunch, prepared by FIU students, will be provided in the Hospitality Management dining room at the FIU Biscayne Bay Campus.

February 10: Lifetime Achievement Award Dinner at The Mandarin Oriental, Miami, Brickell Key, 7:30 p.m. Tickets priced at $300 per person, black tie.

Also on Feb. 10: Miami’s first 5-star luxury hotel, The Mandarin Oriental, Miami, will host a dinner at Azul, the hotel’s waterfront restaurant. Sponsored by the Miami Beach chapter of the Chaine des Rotisseurs, the evening will feature wines of vintages matched to the cuisine of executive chef Christian Schmidt and chef de cuisine Michelle Bernstein.

February 11: China Grill Management Block Party Brunch, Washington Avenue at Fifth Street, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tickets are priced at $75 per person.

For Florida Extravaganza 2001’s brunch, Washington Avenue from Fourth to Fifth Street will be transformed into a movable feast with live music. Brunch will be served at all three of China Grill Management’s restaurants on the block, China Grill, Tuscan Steak and Red Square.

Also on Feb. 11: ‘Wine 101’ Seminar from 2 to 4 p.m. at Herbert S. Joseph Lecture Hall - FIU School of Hospitality, Biscayne Bay Campus. Tickets for the seminar are priced at $150 and include a general admission ticket to the Grand Tasting.

Veteran wine enthusiasts and burgeoning wine lovers can attend a special Wine 101 seminar conducted by FIU wine technology professor Patrick ‘Chip’ Cassidy. The seminar will cover all major aspects of wine, including tasting techniques, wine selection and pairing.

Also on Feb. 11: Grand Tasting and live auction, FIU School of Hospitality Management - Biscayne Bay Campus. Grand Tasting is from 5 to 9 p.m. with a VIP preview from 4 to 5 p.m. Tickets for the VIP preview are priced at $150; general admission tickets for the Grand Tasting are priced at $85.

In a gathering under tents on FIU’s sprawling campus, Sunday’s Grand Tasting is the Florida Extravaganza’s signature event. This is an opportunity to partake of wines from 200 international wineries representing 14 countries, and to sample culinary innovations offered by more than 50 of South Florida’s top restaurants confirmed to participate.

How the Florida Extravaganza started

First published Jan. 15, 1998

You don’t need a crystal goblet to savor the taste of a merlot.

And you don’t have to be a wine connoisseur to partake in Florida International University and Southern Wine and Spirit’s Second Annual Florida Extravaganza.

The wine festival -- happening from 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Roz and Cal Kovens Conference Center at FIU’s North Campus at Northeast 151st Street and Biscayne Boulevard -- will feature more than 100 different beverage companies and food from 40 of South Florida’s top restaurants.

“The event was started last year after Mel Dick, the president of Southern Wine and Spirits’ wine division, suggested that we do a wine-tasting to benefit the school,” said Michelle Oney, Director of Development for the School of Hospitality Management. “We had never done anything like that so we agreed to it. We had such a great turnout so it seemed like a good idea to do it again.”

On board for a second time as culinary coordinators are Mark Militello from Mark’s Las Olas, Allen Susser of Chef Allen’s and Norman Van Aken of Norman’s.Tickets are $55 per person in advance, $60 at the door. Proceeds from the event will go to an endowment to support the new beverage management studies building now being built at the North Campus.

“The endowment will provide funding for an internationally-known faculty member to be the chair for the center,” said Oney. “As well as paying for special lecturers, glassware and for students to actually visit some of the wine regions.”

The Hospitality Management program at FIU trains students to become future restaurant and hotel managers. Part of the responsibility of a manager includes understanding the quality, inventory and purchasing of alcoholic beverages.

More than 100 student volunteers will get first hand knowledge of the industry Sunday, when they are paired off to assist the wineries and restaurants.

“It’s a wonderful thing for the industry, community and for the students,” said Mel Dick. “The Beverage Studies center was our way of giving back to the community and helping everyone from management to chefs or anyone who has an interest to learn more about the alcohol industry.”

In addition to the wining and dining, trips and wines -- a 1984 Far Niente Cabernet at a $750.00 value for example -- will be auctioned off.

“Even though we’re expanding our beverage management program it’s only a small piece of the school,” said Oney. “We’re not just a bunch of cork-sniffers, that’s only a small part.”

The Florida International University and Southern Wine and Spirits Second Annual Florida Extravaganza will be between 3 and 7 p.m. Sunday at the Roz and Cal Kovens Conference Center at FIU’s North Campus, Northeast 151st Street and Biscayne Boulevard. Tickets are $55 per person in advance, $60 at the door.