BubbleQ

 Me in Front of the BubbleQ Tent (Chef Jacket in hand)

With the arrival of the Food Network’s SoBe (South Beach) Food & Wine Festival in Miami Beach FL, my dad and I were driving back and forth between Miami and Boca Raton (that’s 1 hour twice a day for four days, you do the math). It may have been exhausting but it was one of the best and most memorable experiences in my life. On Thursday (which was my B-day) we drove down to the Miami Beach convention center to meet up with Rich Leadbetter (Executive Chef at Wild Olives by Todd English) who invited me to come help prep for an event called the Bubble Q. The Bubble Q: hosted by Emeril Laggase is just one of the many dinners at the SOBE Food and Wine Festival.

Assembling Lobster Rolls on the line

 The Bubble stands for champagne and the Q is for barbecue and was held in a large tent on the beach. Many restaurants and well-known chefs attended this event to served up some mean BBQ. Todd English’s Wild Olives (where I work) served up lobster rolls, and on Thursday I got the opportunity to poach many lobster tails in a butter sauce (which could have been a soup in itself). At the event the lobster tails were grilled then put on a toasted bun with lettuce, fried lobster claw and an aioli (a garlic mayonnaise). There were so many people there including many celebrity chefs. I got the chance to meet Todd English (he’s actually my boss) who was incredibly awesome.

Me and Todd English

I also met Duff Goldman from the Ace of cakes. He did ask me if he knew me (maybe he saw my website!) but I only told him that I assembled his lobster Roll and I hope he was enjoying it. The desserts were also worth a mention as Godiva was there, serving up a thick mouse like pudding and E-creamery served up a banana and rum ice cream (heaven!). Saturday and Sunday I spent the day at the Kellogg’s Kidz event at Jungle Island where celebrity chefs were hosting cooking demonstrations and book signing’s. I interviewed Guy Fieri, Paula Deen, Daisy Martinez, Rocco Dispirito, Marcela Valladolid, and Michelle Bernstein!!! (Check out the Cookisodes) They were all so gracious and I appreciate the time they gave me for each interview. Patience was a must as we waited sometimes hours between each interview. Jungle Island is home to many monkeys, parrots, and orangutans. Watching them helped to pass the time (no joke). Thanks to my amazing friend Christpher Fread for filming and to the incredible Larry Carino for getting us in to the SoBe Festival so that I could interview these superstar chefs. Keep on cooking!!

Enjoying some great food at the BubbleQ