Celebrating 25 years of Meals, Wine, and South Seaside Magic

For 25 years, the Meals Community South Seaside Wine & Meals Competition introduced by Capital One has reworked Miami into a world epicenter of taste, expertise, and indulgence. What started as a modest campus fundraiser has advanced into one of the prestigious culinary festivals on the planet, an annual celebration that displays not solely how far the pageant has come, however how profoundly it has formed South Florida’s culinary id.

This month, SOBEWFF® celebrates its twenty fifth anniversary, going down February 19–22, 2026, with a program that honors its origins whereas embracing its future. A whole bunch of cooks, winemakers, mixologists, and cultural tastemakers will come collectively for a four-day expertise spanning Miami Seaside, Fort Lauderdale, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Wynwood, and past.

The pageant’s roots hint again to 1997, when it launched because the Florida Extravaganza, a one-day wine and meals occasion held on the Biscayne Bay campus of Florida Worldwide College. Designed to showcase wine pairings and native delicacies whereas giving hospitality college students hands-on expertise, the occasion was intimate, academic, and deeply mission-driven.

Every part modified in 2002, when Lee Brian Schrager reimagined the idea and relocated it to South Seaside. The newly branded South Seaside Wine & Meals Competition® expanded right into a multi-day affair, bringing meals lovers onto the sands of Miami Seaside and into eating places, lodges, and venues throughout the town. Attendance surged, nationwide consideration adopted, and the pageant rapidly turned a winter spotlight on the culinary calendar.

In 2007, the partnership with Meals Community additional elevated the pageant’s profile. Movie star cooks, televised moments, and signature occasions have been launched and would quickly change into annual traditions. Over the following 20 years, SOBEWFF® grew steadily in scale and scope, welcoming a number of the most celebrated names in meals and wine whereas producing vital financial affect for the area and elevating thousands and thousands of {dollars} for FIU’s Chaplin Faculty of Hospitality & Tourism Administration.

Right this moment, the pageant is each a glamorous vacation spot occasion and a philanthropic powerhouse, with college students persevering with to play a significant position behind the scenes. That twin mission of celebration and training stays central to SOBEWFF®’s id.

This 12 months’s twenty fifth anniversary pageant displays that legacy with greater than 100 occasions and over 500 cooks and culinary personalities. The lineup balances longtime favorites with new experiences designed to mark the milestone in memorable style.

Among the many most anticipated occasions is Wine Spectator’s Better of the Greatest sponsored by Cunard, introduced by Fontainebleau Miami Seaside and Fontainebleau Las Vegas. Lengthy thought-about one of many pageant’s most elegant evenings, the walk-around tasting brings collectively greater than 60 acclaimed cooks and over 65 premier wineries for a single night time inside the long-lasting Fontainebleau. Friends transfer by the legendary property sampling refined dishes from James Beard Award winners, Meals & Wine Greatest New Cooks, and Michelin-recognized culinary leaders, alongside curated pours from world-class winemakers. An unique Wine Wall provides attendees the possibility to take residence a coveted bottle, including a tangible souvenir to an already indulgent night. With the Fontainebleau’s timeless glamour as its backdrop, Better of the Greatest captures the spirit of SOBEWFF® at 25. It’s elevated, celebratory, and unforgettable.

The pageant’s signature seaside occasions stay a serious draw. Mike’s Superb® Burger Bash introduced by Schweid & Sons® returns for its twentieth 12 months, hosted by Rachael Ray, bringing collectively prime cooks competing for burger supremacy as friends pattern and vote alongside the shoreline. The occasion has change into a joyful kickoff custom that blends culinary competitors with Miami’s relaxed beachfront vitality.

Man Fieri’s Match of Champions LIVE as soon as once more delivers high-octane pleasure. Elite cooks are pitted in opposition to each other in a bracket-style showdown impressed by the hit Meals Community sequence. In the meantime, Masters of Fireplace, curated by Tyler Florence, celebrates the primal artwork of live-fire cooking. Pitmasters and cooks who concentrate on daring flavors cast over flame come collectively for a really visceral expertise.

New additions underscore the pageant’s evolution. Let Us Eat Cake!, hosted by Duff Goldman, brings desserts into the highlight with a playful and indulgent celebration of pastry and creativity. The anniversary finale, 25 Years of Legendary Bites & Iconic Sips, hosted by Andrew Zimmern with music by DJ Cassidy, serves as each a retrospective and a celebration. It brings collectively cooks and flavors which have outlined SOBEWFF® throughout its historical past.

All through the weekend, friends also can take pleasure in a variety of experiences that mirror Miami’s range and world affect. These embody Tacos & Tequila hosted by Aarón Sánchez and intimate dinners honoring culinary leaders and native icons. Occasions pay tribute not solely to nationwide figures, but in addition to Miami’s personal culinary voices, reinforcing the town’s standing as a severe meals vacation spot with a definite viewpoint.

Whereas the movie star appearances and marquee venues draw headlines, SOBEWFF®’s enduring affect lies in its connection to neighborhood and training. Every year, FIU college students achieve invaluable real-world expertise working alongside trade professionals, and pageant proceeds proceed to assist scholarships and programming that form the following technology of hospitality leaders.

As SOBEWFF® marks its twenty fifth anniversary, it stands as a mirrored image of Miami itself. The pageant is bold, numerous, celebratory, and all the time evolving. It has grown alongside the town, mirroring its rise as a global vacation spot the place tradition, delicacies, and creativity intersect.

1 / 4-century in, SOBEWFF® exhibits no indicators of slowing down. As an alternative, it continues to refine its voice, develop its attain, and elevate its choices. Some traditions don’t simply endure. They get higher with time. This February, as cooks hearth up grills on the sand, corks pop at elegant tastings, and the town gathers as soon as once more to eat, drink, and rejoice, SOBEWFF® invitations everybody to lift a glass to 25 years properly savored and to many extra nonetheless to come back.