OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Published On:Wednesday, March 10, 2010

By CHESTER ROBARDS

NINETY pounds of an entire Bluefin Tuna is hustled to the KitchenAid sponsored main stage by three Asian sou chefs, where Iron Chef Masahara Morimoto proceeds to decapitate it, then prepare to plate it.

Slicing through ruby-red, fresh tuna, Morimoto engaged in an anatomical show-and-tell for the do-it-yourself pescatarian under an overflowing South Beach (SOBE) Wine and Food Festival tent in February. He transformed parts of the tuna into three spectacular Sashimi (raw fish) dishes.

The Iron Chef was one of many Food Network chefs to display their cooking prowess live at the annual festival held on the white sand beaches of the popular Ocean Drive in South Beach.

Emeril Lagasse, who has his own South Beach restaurant called Emeril's Miami Beach, was his usual comedic self, cooking up Orzo and Snapper stuffed with olives, baked on a bed of orange slices, with homemade Sangria to wash it all down.

The four day event is always popular with tickets to each culinary event typically gone by November the year before, but this year was different.

Due to the recession and the tightened budgets of many, tickets were still available weeks before the event.

Tribune Taste was down in South Beach for the signature Grand Tasting event which melds so much Food Network Chef presentations, cuisine and alcohol into seven hours that it ensures the heart is fulfilled, stomach is stretched and hands are grasping for aspirin the next day.

The SOBE Wine and Food festival is not all gastronomy and booze however, there are exclusive parties and Chef soirees amid the wine tasting demos and posh Executive Chef catered dinners that can run you about $900 per person.

The popular Bubble Q is always a regular Joe favorite, where really good chefs with really big grills whip up tailgating type food all night, helped down the gullet by beers, champagne and liquor on swanky South Beach. Everything is all inclusive after you blow almost 200 smackeroos ($) for lip smacking barbecue.

While Taste was not fortunate enough to indulge in the Bubble Q, the grand tasting event we did visit, is one not to miss.

Before breaking the entrance, one is armed with a satchel filled with reference material, wooden spoon and potato peeler, and the all important, complimentary Marquis Waterford crystal wine glass used to sample wine and... everything else.

Two Grand Tasting tents packed with vendors from various countries, with various foods, wines, champagnes and liquors offer a tour around the world. Those companies often use the event to debut new products.

There is so much to do that one cannot possibly get around to everything. Therefore, it is wise to do some route planning, eke out which favorite Food Network Chefs to watch and make time to put the glass down to take a photograph of something or someone... If you can!