Eat, Drink and Be Merry

For those who love barbeque and sparkling wine (and who doesn't?), the Moet & Chandon BubbleQ event was a highlight.

TV celebrity Al Roker hosted, with many talented chefs manning the grills: John Stage of Dinosaur Bar B Que, Laurent Tourondel of BLT Steak and Adam Perry Lang from Daisy May's BBQ. This sticky celebration cost $300 for admission, which may seem expensive for a cookout -- but not if you factor in the endless amounts of Moet & Chandon champagne.

Moet & Chandon conceived the event in order to reposition champagne for more than just special occasions. "You can create special moments for every day," says company spokeswoman Dalicia Ramey.

For those leaning more to the ultra high-end, "The Sopranos" star Lorraine Bracco and chef David Bouley hosted an exclusive private dinner for American Express platinum card holders at Bouley's new Miami restaurant Evolution, featuring stellar wine and food pairings.

Creme de la Creme

Would you spend a few hundred dollars to try the best offerings from more than two dozen restaurants?

If you're on the fence, consider that the hosts throw in luxe libations from Au Bon Climat (California), Charles Krug Winery (one of the oldest in Napa Valley) and Chateau de la Gardine (France), as well as top-tier champagnes from Dom Perignon, Laurent Perrier, Louis Roederer, Nicolas Feuillatte and Pommery.

At this year's Best of the Best event, celebrity chefs including Govind Armstrong from Table 8 whipped up myriad innovative dishes, to the delight of attendees.

Armstong served kurobuta pork with celery root mousseline and celery leaf pesto; Michelle Bernstein from Michy's in Miami prepared jamon serrano and cheese croquettes with fig jam; and David Chang from Momofuku in New York City presented seaweed-cured Maine diver scallops with lemon puree, pickled cherries and microgreens.

My favorite dish was the sweet spice-braised short ribs with apple-celery slaw prepared by Floyd Cardoz, executive chef of Manhattan restaurant Tabla. I admit I went back for seconds, but that was the beauty of this event -- you could have as much as you wanted.

Throw in some of some costumed showgirls who were promoting the Pure -- a glittering Las Vegas hot spot that is opening a branch at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach in 2008 -- and an auction sponsored by Delta in which guests placed bids on dozens of unique bottles of liquor, and the festive atmosphere was contagious.

On the Plate

	Bon Appetit!
	Photo: South Beach Wine and Food Festival

"[The festival] started bigger than anyone imagined. The reality is that I think it always exceeded everyone's expectations, even from the first year," says Jorge Gonzalez, city manager of Miami Beach.

Attendees numbered about 30,000 people for this year's celebration, up from several thousand in 2001. What's next for the festival is anyone's guess. "How it grows will be in stature, not necessarily in size," Gonzalez believes.

Did everything go as planned? Of course not, but as Schrager points out, "I think when it all goes as planned is when I have to stop."

After the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, I left full with the piquant tastes -- and experiences -- of cuisine and drinks from all over the world. It will be at least another year before I can eat as extravagantly as that for four full days, which may not be good news for my palette but is certainly good for my physique.

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