Burger Bash Kicks Off South Beach Wine & Food Festival

by Jacquelynn D. Powers, Posted Feb 26th 2010 @ 9:30AM

michael schwartz burger bash south beach wine and food festival Michael Schwartz of Michael's Genuine at the Burger Bash with his winning bacon cheeseburger. Photo: Jacquelynn D. Powers

The 2010 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival kicked off with a carnivorous bang at the Amstel Light Burger Bash, which was presented by Allen Brothers and hosted by Rachael Ray. The fourth annual Burger Bash, which was held in a tent behind the Ritz-Carlton South Beach, was a smashing success with 27 entries spanning celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay, Rocco DiSpirito and David Burke. Nearly 3,000 revelers chowed down on gourmet burgers and spuds, drank truckloads of beer and gawked at Rachael Ray.

The biggest line could be found at Morimoto's station, where the Iron Chef was serving a pork "Kakuni" burger with glazed pork belly. Over at Shake Shack's booth, the New York stalwart tried to ingratiate themselves to the Miami scene (they are opening a local outpost here in the spring) with free t-shirts, shakes and their famous burgers.

Women were swooning over Rocco DiSpirito, who spent more time posing for photos than dishing up his Pork and Chow Chow Slider, which was a mini pork patty, wrapped in bacon and served with chow chow and pickled beets. While Guy Fieri turned heads with his blond, spiky coif, fans weren't able to get too close to him as he was flanked by bodyguards all night. We were able to chat up the festival's founder and director, Lee Brian Schrager, whose top pick of the evening was Morimoto's porcine-themed burger.

Art Smith, one of the judges, shared some of his requirements for the ultimate patty. "A burger should look like a burger and taste like a burger," he divulged. "The secret is a hot toasted bun, crispy lettuce, aged cheddar and crispy smoked bacon. If food is fresh, you don't need a lot of ingredients or sauces. You don't need guacamole on a burger. Dr. Oz always says that, 'If your grandmother wouldn't recognize it, don't eat it.' I was looking for simpler food with lots of flavor." Best known as Oprah Winfrey's chef, Smith consumed 27 burgers in the judging process. His selection for Best Burger? Michael Schwartz of Michael's Genuine in Miami. And since Smith recently lost a whopping 96 pounds, he came to the Burger Bash straight from the David Barton Gym on South Beach, where Rachael Ray was also spotted working out yesterday.

Everyone had high hopes for reigning champion Spike Mendelsohn's entry. While his Farmhouse Bacon Cheeseburger was well-received, Spike was not the "top chef" last night, though his accompanying Pink Cotton Candy Shake was certainly a guilty pleasure. Healthful types visited the South Beach Diet's booth, where Dr. Arthur Agatston prepared the night's only turkey burger, which was served on a flaxseed whole-wheat bun. Although it was nice to have a diet-friendly option, there was no way this burger was going to prevail.

Miamians seemed to take the night, however, with two of the four winners hailing from the 305 area code. Not only did the Standard Hotel's Mark Zeitouni win Best Side Dish for his homemade tater tots, but Michael Schwartz of Michael's Genuine nabbed the prestigious judges award for Best Burger with his perfectly executed bacon cheeseburger with smoked bacon, white cheddar, heirloom tomatoes and local lettuce. Rounding out the winners were B Spot's Michael Symon, whose Fat Doug burger (with Swiss cheese, pastrami and coleslaw) won the People's Choice award, and Masaharu Morimoto, whose glazed pork belly topping won Best Dressed Burger honors.

Be sure to follow Slashfood's SOBE coverage on Twitter.

Related: New York Wine & Food Festival 2009 - From Burgers to Barbecue

Filed Under: Celebrities, Events
Tags: Art Smith, burger bash, guy fieri, Masaharu Morimoto, Michael Schwartz, Rachael Ray, Rocco DiSpirito, south beach wine and food festival, spike mendelsohn

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-27-2010 @3:50PM Jim said... Man do I get sick of these A-holes blogging dating sites on every story.
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2-27-2010 @4:31PM tom sheridan said... to Jim:

because these retards at AOL just sit on there fat asses eating pizza, drinking beer and watch tv all day for 12 hours a day. enought said!!!!

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2-27-2010 @4:40PM Tiger Lil said... I don't think that the headlineis accurate. I think that tasted is more the truth. I seriously doubt that entire burgers were eaten.
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2-28-2010 @11:42AM RobD said... Ah, the literal net at its finest!

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2-27-2010 @5:06PM sam said... there isn't a hamburger that hasn't already been created by someone somewhere. that goofy looking jewboy schwartz just stole someone elses recipe.
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3-01-2010 @7:02AM gobo said... "Jewboy"? You read an article about burgers and your first reaction is to call the winning chef "jewboy"?

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2-27-2010 @6:22PM kwmillie said... I was there and Guy Fieri thinks that he is the Brad Pitt of the culinary world, he's got security guards all around him, he is not reacheable and was not even friendly to his fans. Guy, I rather see Rocco anytime! He is a doll! I used to like you, but now, Forget about it!!! Go back to Hollywood were you belong!
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