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South Beach Wine and Food Festival 2012 is a few weeks away: the Nascar of foodie weekends. Though hot tickets are sold out, there's a slew of events with tickets available. Perhaps a local chef's attendance might convince you to splurge.

Have a weigh-in on South Beach Wine and Food weekend? Share it in the comments. After the jump, Broward chefs who will make an appearance.

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Brustman Carrino PR

​Calling all gourmands and scenesters: Tickets go on sale Monday for the foodist event of the year: The 11th-annual South Beach Wine & Food Festival, to benefit FIU Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.More >>

All photos by Laine Doss

Anthony Bourdain brought the wheel of death.

​Once a year, South Beach turns into the ultimate playground for adults. Filled with shows, food, and fun, it's basically Disney World for grownups. At the Grand Tasting Village, guests are given a Waterford Crystal glass and free reign to drink as much booze from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Florida sun as they can before they pass out. Strangely enough, though we've seen some slurred speech and stumbling, we've never seen any outright vomiting or fighting.

Beyond this weekend-long orgy of food and drink lie the celebrity demonstrations and book signings. Superfans of Food Network delight in nonstop talks and demonstrations by such heavy hitters are Emeril Lagasse, Paula Deen, Rocco DiSpirito, Anthony Bourdain, Morimoto, Bobbly Flay, Bethenny Frankel, and Guy Fieri. The one thing all of these celebs have in common is the ability to entertain a crowd of fans. Each has his or her own particular schtick -- some quipping about other celebs, some passing drinks around, but all of them pumping up the crowd more than a Disney parade! It's a chef's world, after all.

 

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All photos by Laine Doss

Guy pouring in the booze.

​There are a lot of celebrity hosts at the various South Beach Food and Wine Festival events. By what we can tell, hosting duties at these events pretty much mean showing up and schmoozing with friends and fans. Some hosts are seen more than others. Duff Goldmann, for example, was at his post at The Best Thing I Ever Ate for most of the party, serving corn chowder and taking photos with adoring fans (tough job). Other celeb hosts who we won't name (Rachael Ray at Burger Bash, Martha Stewart at Let Them Eat Cake) just did a cursory walk-through of the event and made an announcement at some point in the evening. Apparently no one gave Guy Fieri the memo that he really didn't have to work that hard as a host, because Fieri actually fed the thousand or so partygoers... literally! More >>

All photos by Laine Doss

KC & The Sunshine Band Rocked The House - "This is what Justin Timberlake is going to look like in 30 years", quipped KC.

​The giant festival party tent was transformed once again last evening for "The Best Thing I Ever Ate", where celebs and celebrity chefs don't actually cook themselves, but present a dish from a favorite restaurant. It's a fun way for these celebs to kick back with a glass of wine and meet their fans.

Celebrities presenting dishes included Scott Conant, Geoffrey Zakarian, Sunny Anderson, Anne Burrell, Bethanny Frankel, local celeb Paul Castronovo, event host Duff Goldmann and Andrew Zimmern and Debi Mazar. KC and the Band provided entertainment, which really got the crowd moving, especially with wild man Guy Fieri on percussions.

 

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All photos by Laine Doss

​Last evening's Bubble Q on the beach has everything a huge tropical soiree could ask for - good music, great food, stunning decor, champagne corks popping endlessly and celebs. A gigantic white chandelier was the focal point of the tent, under which handsome men in black with neon green ties poured overflowing glasses of Perrier-Joet. Celebrity chefs were stationed around the tent cooking savory dishes to pair with the champagne. The highlight of the evening, however, were the celebrities in the crowd. Guy Fieri, Giada De Laurentiis, Rick Bayless, Al Roker, Jonathan Waxman and host Bobby Flay were spotted. Just when we thought we had seen every celeb, Martha Stewart strolled in on her way to the Let Them Eat Cake party to sample some food. Just as Martha walked in the room, the band played the theme to 2001, A Space Odyssey. Coincidence? We don't think so.

Todd English had a line of admirers - all women.

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​ All photos by Laine Doss

​While most larger SoBe Wine & Food Festival events happen in the giant tents on the beach, the location on the ticket of the Let Them Eat Cake party, hosted by Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse, was that of a parking garage on Lincoln Road and Alton Road. This is going to be interesting, we thought as we traded in ticket for wristband and were directed to an elevator. When the elevator doors opened, guests were surprised to find the entire seventh floor of this parking garage had been turned into a fantasy of cakes, champagne, dancing girls, acrobats and extreme ice carvers.

Sound a bit like Cirque du Soleil? Well, it looked a lot like it. Out of all the events and parties so far this season (and there are still a lot more events left this weekend), this party was both the most exclusive and spectacular. Hosts Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse were on hand and you could feel their touches in the room - the extreme decorating of Martha coupled with the music and color that is Emeril's beloved New Orleans. What about celebrities you say? More celebs than you can shake a cupcake at, we say. We spotted Martha and Emeril, of course, along with Gail Simmons, Geoffrey Zakarian enjoying a cigar, Duff Goldman and Fabio Viviani.

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Laine Doss

Geoffrey Zakarian and wife Margaret

​Last night Geoffrey Zakarian represented New York restaurant The National at The South Beach Wine & Food Festival's Burger Bash. Geoffrey will also appear at the sold out The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Clean Plate Charlie recently interviewed Geoffrey and you can read the interview here and here.

If you can't make it to the The South Beach Wine & Food Festival, bring a little bit of Geoffrey home with you by making his Sesame-Crusted Tuna Steaks.

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All photos by Laine Doss

The Burger Bash tent

​Burger Bash, hosted by Rachael Ray, is one of the most popular events at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. One of the first events to be sold out, the 2011 Burger Bash featured 26 chefs presenting their best burgers.

Last evening's Burger Bash was packed with celebrity chefs and fans who tried to sample as many burgers as they could before reaching critical mass. Amstel Light, Diet Pepsi, Fiji Water and Loire Valley Wines were on hand to wash the meaty treats down.

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All photos by Laine Doss

Food Network chefs Melissa D'Arabian, Scott Conant, Anne Burrell, Sunny Anderson with Food Network Magazine Editor-in-Chief Maile Carpenter

​Prosecco and wine flowed at Scarpetta last evening as Food Network Magazine kicked off The South Beach Wine & Food Festival with a chef-studded event. The Food Network Magazine event was a prelude to the festivities of the SoBe fest, which officially gets under way today.

Celebrity chefs were spotted all evening including Scott Conant (who also is Chef/Owner of Scarpetta), Anne Burrell, Sunny Anderson, Melissa D'Arabian, Wylie Dufrensie and Geoffrey Zakarian. Pasta giant Barilla sponsored pasta stations which served fettuccine with peas and proscuitto, fusilli with tomato and basil, and rigatoni with mixed seafood. Wine and prosecco flowed freely at the event, which was an informal and lively way for celebrity chefs to mingle with invited fans and have a drink before a weekend hectic with parties and demonstrations. Pics after the jump.

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