From South Beach to Our Beach

This is the month of the South Beach Wine and Food Festival – or as we like to think of it, the Fort Lauderdale Wine and Food Festival, Some of Which Takes Place on South Beach. Granted, our name doesn’t fit as well on a hat. The festival’s been offering more and more Fort Lauderdale-based events in recent years, and the 2018 CRAVE Greater Fort Lauderdale Series looks, to our hungry eyes, like the best yet.

1. February 21st
Barbecue dinner hosted by Chris Lilly and Jorge Ramos. $200,
World barbecue champ Chris Lilly kicks off the festival at the new Conrad Fort Lauderdale alongside the luxury hotel’s Chef Jorge Ramos, about whom more can be learned on page 76.

2. February 22nd
Clambake hosted by Emeril Lagasse and Jorge Ramos. $200
Chef, author and television personality Emeril turns up at the Conrad with some good wine, good seafood and, as an added bonus, Food Network personality and Charm City Cakes founder Duff Goldman.

3. February 24th
Women of Syria dinner hosted by Alon Shaya and Ingrid Hoffman. $200
The Broward Center’s Porter Ballroom hosts James Beard Award-winning chef Shaya and TV personality and cookbook author Hoffman for a family-style dinner prepared by representatives of organizations dedicated to supporting Syrian refugees.

4. February 24th
The Ritz-Carlton Dinner: A Culinary Adventure. $175
Chefs from Ritz-Carltons around Florida join Paula DaSilva at the Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale’s Burlock Coast restaurant for an evening of fabulously Floridian cuisine.