‘Mercedes After Hours’ provides tasty preview of Wine & Food Festival

November 20th, 2012

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Chefs from Aaron's Catering. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Delicious watermelon on an olive-oil infusion. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Raj Aditya, Tara Nyack, Vanessa Dolan and Sandy Bell. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Anna Palmerola, Maria de Crescenzo, Alexandra Givner and Jackie Eisen. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Bobbie & Duane Wiles and Jaylan Ochoa. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Bobbie Wiles and Samantha Matallana. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Crab claws from George's Stone Crab. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Dirsa Garay and Michelle Yurubi. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Fernando Bido, Katherine Perez, Rick Lindstrom and Denise Erwin. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Frank Pena and Donovan Woodbine. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

George Cioroba and Ariel Manso. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

The AZ Canteen attracts a crowd. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Jackie Eisen, Shivani Joshi and George Corton. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Jeanmarie Kouri and Alan Courey. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Jorge Berrios and Juan Gonzalez. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Karen Brown and Maria de Crescenzo. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Keisha Eberwein and Rowan Haddad. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Kriss Velasco at the Tosca Station. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Laura Hartmann and Maude Eaton. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Lee Brian Shrager, Sam Blum and Felipe Klautau. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Linda Azicri, Sara Behar and Ileana & Robert Ramirez. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Luis Rios and Maria Brolley. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Melissa Pate and Jackie Hassine. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Michaela Cubi and Kerri-Lynn Mello ready to serve Double Cross Vodka. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Nikki Ewanouski and Jenny Morales. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Pablo Fuegel from Florida Cookery at The James Royal Hotel. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Rene Aldana and Denie Harris. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Sam Gorenstein and Roger Duarte. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Shakil Rehman and Robert Corso. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival reception

Tara Nyack and Raj Aditya. Photo by Betty Alvarez

Stella Donelan, Guests, Charles Pool, and Darryl Randall

Stella Donelan, Guests, Charles Pool, and Darryl Randall

Chefs from Aaron's Catering. Photo by Betty AlvarezDelicious watermelon on an olive-oil infusion. Photo by Betty AlvarezRaj Aditya, Tara Nyack, Vanessa Dolan and Sandy Bell. Photo by Betty AlvarezAnna Palmerola, Maria de Crescenzo, Alexandra Givner and Jackie Eisen. Photo by Betty AlvarezBobbie & Duane Wiles and Jaylan Ochoa. Photo by Betty AlvarezBobbie Wiles and Samantha Matallana. Photo by Betty AlvarezCrab claws from George's Stone Crab. Photo by Betty AlvarezDirsa Garay and Michelle Yurubi. Photo by Betty AlvarezFernando Bido, Katherine Perez, Rick Lindstrom and Denise Erwin. Photo by Betty AlvarezFrank Pena and Donovan Woodbine. Photo by Betty AlvarezGeorge Cioroba and Ariel Manso. Photo by Betty AlvarezThe AZ Canteen attracts a crowd. Photo by Betty AlvarezJackie Eisen, Shivani Joshi and George Corton. Photo by Betty AlvarezJeanmarie Kouri and Alan Courey. Photo by Betty AlvarezJorge Berrios and Juan Gonzalez. Photo by Betty AlvarezKaren Brown and Maria de Crescenzo. Photo by Betty AlvarezKeisha Eberwein and Rowan Haddad. Photo by Betty AlvarezKriss Velasco at the Tosca Station. Photo by Betty AlvarezLaura Hartmann and Maude Eaton. Photo by Betty AlvarezLee Brian Shrager, Sam Blum and Felipe Klautau. Photo by Betty AlvarezLinda Azicri, Sara Behar and Ileana & Robert Ramirez. Photo by Betty AlvarezLuis Rios and Maria Brolley. Photo by Betty AlvarezMelissa Pate and Jackie Hassine. Photo by Betty AlvarezMichaela Cubi and Kerri-Lynn Mello ready to serve Double Cross Vodka. Photo by Betty AlvarezNikki Ewanouski and Jenny Morales. Photo by Betty AlvarezPablo Fuegel from Florida Cookery at The James Royal Hotel. Photo by Betty AlvarezRene Aldana and Denie Harris. Photo by Betty AlvarezSam Gorenstein and Roger Duarte. Photo by Betty AlvarezShakil Rehman and Robert Corso. Photo by Betty AlvarezTara Nyack and Raj Aditya. Photo by Betty AlvarezStella Donelan, Guests, Charles Pool, and Darryl Randall

The Friends of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival recently took over the newly renovated Mercedes-Benz of Coral Gables showroom for its “Mercedes After Hours” reception.

Featured participants included Aaron’s Catering, AZ Canteen, Florida Cookery, George Stone Crab, STK, Haute Living and MasterCard.

The 12th annual South Beach Wine & Food Festival will place Feb. 21-24 at several venues in the Miami area.

The festival has raised over $16 million to date for the Florida International University Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and the Southern Wine & Spirits Beverage Management Center.

The 2013 edition boasts a unique program of tastings, parties, dinners, and seminars designed to please everyone’s taste buds.

Tickets are available online at www.sobefest.com or by calling 877.762.3933.  Stay up to date by following the festival at www.Facebook.com/SOBEWFF