Moet Madness

The party award went to the Moet-Henessy booth in the back right corner of the first tent, as toward the end of the day the DJ had the music cranking to danceable, recognizable music and the Moet wines were flowing. Everyone would walk by and take a look, as if a nightclub had just opened and they were checking out the dancefloor. And those dancing had no cares in the world. A definite stop at the Tatsing Village.

-- Fred Gonzalez 

Grand Tasting Village

The cool weather, even during the day, certainly helped make the Saturday visit to the Whole Foods GTV a pleasant one. But there were plenty of changes from previous years – the bags were filled with less information and product, so they weren’t as heavy as in the past. The crowds were a little thinner than in the past, but still plenty to fill the tents and create plenty of long lines for small bites of food. And there were no over-sized displays with musical artists or cirque-style entertainers that dominated the tents. As one friend told me, it felt a bit more industrial this time around. Blame that on the recession.

Scalpers everywhere

As we walked to the Grand Tasting Village, I felt like it was a college football Saturday what with all the ticket scalpers. A friend ended up purchasing a vendor’s credential for $150. Some bought tickets for $100. Guess the recession was certainly going to be evident this year.

-- Fred Gonzalez 

Star Central

There in the middle of the Bubble Q was a raised platform with all kinds of stars being photographed and interviewed. Taking center stage was Guy Fieri, who was swarmed by cameras and spending time with Miami’s own Harry Wayne Casey from KC and the Sunshine Band. Also there was chef Ingrid Hoffmann, being interviewed by local television.

-- Fred Gonzalez 

Bubble Q

This may simply be the can’t miss event of the weekend. Despite a 20-minute wait in line to get your wristband and champagne glass (the line moved quickly, however), once inside the first stop is at the Moet station to get your glass filled. The temperatures were very chilly for a late-Feb. night on Miami Beach, so there were plenty of winter jackets and scarves, and the accessory of the night were the heat lamps throughout the event.

We headed to the back of the tent to begin our tasting, and found lots of lobster choices in a barbecue-themed event. John Tesar had a superb lobster dish, Azul from the Mandarin had lobster tacos, and at RED The Steakhouse, Peter Vauthy had a lobster hash with the dry rubbed steak. The recession-proof sandwich of the night was by Ilan Hall from The Gorbals – a chicken-skin sandwich. (That’s right – just the skin.)

Tangled up in Bleau

I wrote down notes on Wine Spectator's Best of the Best event for this blog. Then I went to Liv for our one-year anniversary party and totally lost them. I remember lying them on the bar -- could have been 10 minutes after I got there, could have been an hour -- but by the time I remembered them (funny how a VIP table and some Naughty by Nature can make you forget about work) they were gone. Either a wine-savvy patron eyed my list of favorite pours and pocketed it, or the bartender tossed them. I'm going to go with A, and just go on believing that at this moment there is a young, hip Johnson & Wales student in Total Wine with my list, marveling over it with the manager.

Lawdy Dawdy, We Like The Raleigh

You know it's going to be a good party when you walk in and hear early '90s dreamy soul-pop duo PM Dawn. You know it's going to be an awesome party when the guy behind you jovially comments, "hey, it's PM Dawn!" Those are the kind of people I want to spend a Thursday night with.

I'll just add bold music choices to the long list of reasons I love going to The Raleigh. The hotel could invite me to a ballpoint pen convention there and I would go. It's just that kind of magical place. So when I got the invite for Modern Luxury mag's Cruzan after-party, I was so there. A lot of other people were there as well, which brings me to the one and only gripe I have about the event: lines.

Good night, Burger Bash

An exit shot of the crowd inside the Burger Bash tent at around 9:30 in the evening.

--Aurora Rodriguez 

A nightcap for Aurora

Yeah, yeah...so I had around two tiny beers, one which was served by an attractive Amstel Light-dude. So? All these burgers had me pretty done for the evening, but as I strolled towards the exit to start heading towards my car and my trip home to Aventura I noticed a gleaming sign promoting "Vibrant Rioja" wines from Spain.

While all 22 burgers (I tried a very slim amount of these due to long lines and a fully belly) had specific wines listed to pair with each one, I had yet to have a sip of vino. Interested to try one out, I stood in line for a chill rose wine which went down easy, the perfect nightcap for an evening spent chowing down and chilling out with the 2009 SOBE Wine and Food Festival crowd.

Michy's serves it up

Michelle Bernstein serves the hungry crowd.

--Aurora Rodriguez