SoBe Honors Coppola: Oscars Mull Wine

By JULIETTE ROSSANT The South Beach Wine and Food Festival (SoBe) did more, relatively speaking, to honor to wine over the weekend than the Oscars. While Sideways grabbed only one Oscar (Writing - Adapted Screenplay for Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor), SoBe took time out on Sunday (February 27) from its feast to honor director-winegrower Francis Ford Coppola of Niebaum-Coppola Winery with a Lifetime Achievement Award during a tribute brunch at Loew's Hotel. This followed a day-long wine seminar sponsored by Wine Spectator, which continued Sunday afternoon. SoBe had enough star chefs to rival the Oscars, if Food is your thing. I have listed many of the chefs featured -- good way to run through the names to catch up on those whom you know and learn about those whom you don't in the world of want-to-be-seen chefs: Bradley Ogden Nancy Silverton Joachim Splichal David Bull Robert Del Grande Mary Sue Milliken Susan Feniger Daniel Boulud Michel Roux Claude Troisgros Douglas Rodriguez Richard Sandoval Emeril Lagasse Michael Chiarello Todd English Ming Tsai Charlie Trotter Norman Van Aken Nobu Matsuhisa David Burke Marcus Samuelsson American Express Publishing Group foots the bill for this and other events for its magazines, a tradition started years back by then chief Tom Ryder (now head of Reader's Digest -- see Super Chef, pp. 175-177). Of course, Wolfgang Puck was absent: he was doing that other weekend food event, the Governors Ball after the Oscar, which he has catered for over two decades. Previous articles: Todd English: Childrens Oscars (Update) Emeril Lagasse Lays Apple iPod Ming Tsai TV Wolfgang Puck: Eastern Empire Norman Van Aken: First "American Visionary" Todd English Cooks for the Governors Ball? Nancy Silverton & Mario Batali's Mozza Tsunami Update 6: Dining to Donate in Houston Joachim Splichal Feeds Fleet of Foot Marcus Samuelsson Flees Philly From Boulud's gourmet hamburgers arise... delicate Philly cheesesteaks? Mary Sue & Susan: California's Restaurateurs of the Year Claude Troisgros: Riding de Rocco DiSpirito Star --> back to superchefblog