I am never insulted if you invite me at the last minute...

     I feel lucky that I often get invited to go to cool events at the last minute. In the past few years, I've been offered free tickets to the Super Bowl, The World Series, a Bruce Springsteen Concert and  more things within hours of the starting time. 

  I guess that I should wonder why I don't get invited at the first minute but I am not a planner so I love a call like I received during the bewitching hour (after school homework hell/5:00 p.m.). "I have two extra tickets for the food and wine festival's Q event. It's on South Beach behind the Delano. Do you guys want them?" , said a very nice friend. 

    I hesitated. There was a Lord of the Flies Project and lots of studying to oversee. The decision was made as soon as my friend went onto say, "C'mon. They are worth $300 each. You guys will love it. Free Gourmet food and drinks"   $600 dollars worth of food, drink and fun for free, I'll take it! 

    I told the kids to figure it out on their own, threw on some lip gloss and the best "beach chic" thing that I could come up with in five minutes and ran out the door. 

     Besides the error of wearing wedge heels to an event which was held on a football field sized tent on the beach, the night was amazing.

  The South Beach Wine & Food Festival is presented by Food & Wine and the Food Network. It has been held on chic South Beach for 13 years.  65,000 people will  attend the dozens of events held over the weekend. Depsite the high ticket prices, the event always sells out. I've never been before. 

   The event we attended was called "Moët Henneessy's the Q". Supposedly the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models were supposed to be the featured guests but luckily I did not see them. After my brush with the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders last week on our cruise, I really did not need another "boost" to my self-esteem.

   The event featured tastings by 40 of the nations top chefs. It was a celebration of all things, grilled, braised and barbecued.  This was not a vegetarian event. Each booth served different variations of BBQ brisket, ribs and other meats.  My husband was literally in hog heaven. He was starving after a long day at work and started at the first booth and worked his way down the line.  I warned him to be picky. He had 40 booths plus desert stops and free drinks to conquer.  He made it to about 15 before he was stuffed and nauseous . I was more choosey but I'm still certain that any weight that I lost from lovely procedure earlier in the week, was instantly re-gained.

Myron Mixon and Some other food person

     One of my favorite stops was Myron Mixon's booth. I don't really watch food shows. I'm a horrible cook and they make me feel inadequate and super hungry.  I did watch marathon of a show called BBQ Pitmasters with my husband one Sunday afternoon and Mixon was the winner. He was serving brisket that was delicious. 

      I also liked the offering from Dale Talde, a former Top Chef All-Stars Contestant. He owns a spot in Brooklyn and his Asian flavored BBQ beef was amazing. 

   

  The rest is kind of a blur. How much beef can one partake in three hours? How much champagne can one drink on a school night?  How many times can one's wedges sink into the sand? These were questions that were answered during our impromptu party night.

  

    Drink Menu. I tried the first one                                          I did not drink all of this!
        but did not like it at all



  If you ever have the chance to get tickets to the SOBEWFF (even if not free) you should definitely go. The balmy breezes and delicious food made for an amazing night out. Just wear flats! 

    AND if you ever have extra tickets for almost anything, I'll take them, even if the thing is happening in the next hour. That  is just how I roll.