Our Second Day at the SoBe Wine and Food Festival
As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, this past weekend, I flew to Miami, Florida to take part in the annual South Beach Wine & Food Festival. On Saturday morning, I was scheduled to give a cooking demonstration with MSLO's Lucinda Scala Quinn, Executive Editorial Director of Food and Entertaining, and Sarah Carey, Editor in Chief of Everyday Food. Before a sell-out audience, we made three fabulous recipes from our new bestselling Meatless cookbook, which features more than 200 of the very best vegetarian recipes. That was followed by a book signing, two radio interviews, and then attending a tribute dinner honoring Christophe Navarre, CEO of Moet Hennessy and my friend, Nobu Matsuhisa, known to the world simply as "Nobu." He is, of course, the acclaimed and highly influential chef proprietor of Nobu and Matsuhisa restaurants located across five continents. I had the great honor of being the Mistress of Ceremonies in this presentation to Nobu, whom I have known for many years and whose amazing creations I have enjoyed countless times.
1 Waking up on Saturday morning, this was the splendid view from my room in the Soho Beach House on Miami Beach.
2 The main swimming pool is 100-feet-long and flanked by Soho Beach House’s signature striped beds and gardens.
3 I really liked the palm frond wallpaper.
4 And the tile floor.
5 A view of the neighboring hotels
6 Another view of the ocean from the balcony
7 Leaving the hotel, we ran into Giada De Laurentiis. We shared a friendly hello.
8 Bobby Flay also came to say hello.
9 As did Nigella Lawson
10 Bobby was just hangin' out.
11 Here I am with Lucinda Scala Quinn and Sarah Carey at the Grand Tasting for our Culinary Demonstration.
12 We were there to demo 3 recipes from our new best-selling book, Meatless.
13 The Grand Tasting, the demo venue, was a large tent erected right on the beach. We drove here from Loews Miami Beach Hotel using golf carts.
14 KitchenAid, our sponsor, makes great appliances.
15 These are the ingredients for the Fatoush with Crumbled Feta, a popular Middle Eastern salad that combines whole-grain pita, kidney beans, and cucumber. In this version, feta is sprinkled over the top.
16 We also demoed Kale and Red Cabbage Slaw, which gets ample protein and healthy fats from a trio of sunflower, pumpkin, and hemp seeds. You can find hemp seeds whole or hulled at health-food stores and either type can be used in this recipe.
17 We also made Pasta with Beets and Ricotta, in which whole-grain spaghetti turns garnet when tossed with a puree of beets and sun-dried tomatoes. Toasted walnuts add nutrients and flavor to the dish.
18 Here I am making last minute adjustments to a mandoline slicer.
19 A very nice group shot - Sarah Carey, Jennifer Hager, Kelly Galvin, Lucinda Scala Quinn, Susan Magrino, me, and Daisy Schwartzberg
20 Before the cooking demo, I enjoyed a glass of freshly squeeze mixed orange juice, including blood orange and tangelo.
21 Here we are being introduced to the audience.
22 We manned our stations on the stage.
23 It was a sell-out crowd.
24 The audience was lively and fun and they loved everything.
25 Here I am about to taste the Pasta with Beets and Ricotta. See what a great color it is?
26 And speaking of color....
27 There was an auction of a flamingo pink KitchenAid mixer to benefit breast cancer research.
28 Here's the lucky couple who won. The mixer sold for $900!
29 The culinary demo lasted for one hour and immediately following, I signed copies of Meatless for the next hour.
30 This was the line. Not a bad place to form a queue.
31 I always enjoy connecting with my public.
32 While I was signing, Curtis Stone, the Australian celebrity chef, came to visit. It was great to see him again.
33 After the book signing, we hit the beach in search of our golf carts.
34 This Atlantic Ocean beach is quite lovely.
35 Our transportation
36 Back at the SoHo Beach House, I had two radio interviews scheduled.
37 Everyone else went off and had a fun lunch.
38 Those chilled glasses of rosé look quite enticing.
39 Later that day I got glammed up for the Tribute Dinner Honoring Nobu Matsuhisa and Christophe Navarre.
40 Back in the car for the drive back to Loews Miami Beach Hotel
41 The girl wearing the pretty necklace told Kevin that she became a Dolphin's Cheerleader at 19. She was celebrating her birthday that night.
42 Posing with Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch, the owner of Lowes Hotels
43 I met up with Susan, who looked glamorous, as always.
44 My friend Nobu
45 Here I am with Daniel Boulud, Jonathan Tisch, and Nobu Matsuhisa
46 Some of the beautifully prepared and delicious nibbles served that night
47 There were many Nobu-inspired starters.
48 Black cod served on butter lettuce
49 Posing with Matt Hoyle, who is the chef at Nobu 57 in New York City
50 Posing with the group from City National Bank
51 And with the group from Bank of America, the presenters of the evening
52 I was the Mistress of Ceremonies and I showed some photos of Nobu and me taken over the years.
53 In 2000, Nobu and I toured Tokyo's Tsukiji Market, the largest wholesale fish market in the world. Nobu gave me an in depth tour of this fascinating place. Here we are studying traditional cedar wooden sake drinking cups called masu.
54 The SoBe festival has many important sponsors.
55 Here I am with Nelson Mandela's daughter, Makaziwe and granddaughter, Tukwini. They were at the festival to introduce the family's new business, House of Mandela wines to the U.S. market.
56 Posing with Nobu's wife, Yoko and some of their friends.
57 Back at the podium - I just happen to have a Nobu chef's jacket with my name embroidered on it and I decided to close wearing it. Here I am with Lee Brian Schrager, the founder of this amazing SoBe WFF event and also the VP of Southern Wine & Spirits of America.
58 A big thank you to all of the fabulous chefs of the evening
59 A really nice group shot
60 Afterwards with Drew Nieporent, New York City restaurateur and partner of Nobu
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
What excitement!!!
I like your outfit. Lovely, as usual.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | February 28th, 2013 at 12:14 am
Martha,
This was really a fun time, loved your hair. Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | February 28th, 2013 at 2:00 am
What fun!
Posted by: Holiday Baker Man | February 28th, 2013 at 5:43 am
What a great life here in Dakota, sitting at home, and able to enjoy wonderful events at South Beach ! Thank you for inspiring me for many years and well remember learning about cedar sake cups from Nobu. Was it really 13 years ago?
Posted by: ann | February 28th, 2013 at 6:16 am
Martha...you still look like a model in your Tribute Dinner outfit. And your hair is beautiful
Posted by: Paula Bennighof | February 28th, 2013 at 6:54 am
Love the sandals you are wearing!!!! What brand are they?
Posted by: Christine Arancio | February 28th, 2013 at 7:28 am
Hi Martha, Since it's raining here, it's delightful to see such lovely weather and beautiful you this morning when you were in Florida over last weekend! You, Sarah Carey, and Lucinda Scala Quinn did a marvelous job at that lovely festival and it reminds me of your fabulous TV Shows that I miss so much!!! Every one of these photos are gorgeous and you look wonderful in your beautiful outfits! Sure wish I could have been there and I finally got your Meatless book at Costco for a terrific price! I also got 2 of your new, gorgeous lamps at Staples a few day ago and that was fun, also! You have the best items for all of us to enjoy and can't wait to see what you have at J C Pennies! Not only was the weather great, but the hotel where you stayed was marvelous! I loved seeing you in every one of these photos and even Kevin looked cute! How fun to see Bobby Flay, also! The Culinary Demonstration and the signing of Meatless were the greatest! I love it all and will view it again! Hope you are having another great day and love seeing F&S on the Daily Wag where Francesca looks so much healthier and Sharkey takes such good care of her! Hope to see GK soon, also! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | February 28th, 2013 at 8:58 am
I am loving this new cookbook Martha! Such a fresh outlook on food!
Please drop by my blog...I have featured a crafter who you need to see!
Posted by: nantucket Daffodil | February 28th, 2013 at 9:25 am
Beautiful photos from the event. You looks gorgeous Martha
Posted by: Rowaida Flayhan | February 28th, 2013 at 9:26 am
Thank you for sharing Martha. Looks wonderful, I think we'll sign up for next year's South Beach Wine & Food Festival. Looks like a ton of fun and it will get us away from the cold of the North East.
Posted by: Jules | February 28th, 2013 at 9:33 am
Hi Martha,
When I was trying to figure out from your Twitter picture what Meatless recipe you were going to demo, I thought the orange item by the knife, (in Martha Stewart Living Twitter picture), might be a carrot and then there was the Dijon mustard so I typed Dijon mustard in the search box on my Kindle copy. I was surprised when the Kale and Red Cabbage Slaw recipe came up but thought it might be what you were making because it has the mustard and the carrot and also the seeds that were also pictured in bowls. Pretty good sleuth-ing if I say so myself.
~
Nice long pool in picture #2! I wonder if anyone ever gets the urge to jump in from the balcony or maybe only the college kids do that in Ft. Lauderdale. Nice to see the deep end close to the building though just in case! You had some really beautiful weather and the beach looked spectacular. I hope there was a nice breeze because it can get sweltering out there. I try to stay away from too much heat!
~
You also looked great as usual and the perfect choice to be Mistress of Ceremonies in a tribute to your friend Nobu. I remember your trip to the fish market in Japan with him and the live webcast that I watched with my slow dial-up connection. It was through excursions such as these that I got to know you better even it if was through television. It’s for certain that you pretty much amazed me. Regarding the Japan trip, I could not imagine wanting to go there to visit a fish market at the crack of dawn. I was constantly saying to my sister, “Guess what Martha Stewart did”, and she’d say, “I have no idea but I’m sure you’re going to tell me!” lol I think you have a lot of new fans that don’t know half of what defines you, which is a pity but on the other hand, there are a lot like me who do and it is always nice to read their comments here on your blog! Trish
Posted by: Trish | February 28th, 2013 at 11:30 am
Dear Martha-
My childhood family vacations were spent in Miami Beach. A yearly journey which took us from NJ to Miami Beach via interstate route I-95. Two days in a car with my parents whom my brother and I tortured with the "when are we getting there" question ad naseum. Looking back to my amasement my father each time answered when we asked. Anyway, the childhood beach I visited in the 70s to be with my grandparents really remains unchanged it is still as beautiful in the present as it was back then. The festival looks lovely I hope it was enjoyed.
Posted by: Teri | February 28th, 2013 at 11:53 am
Hi Martha,
OMG - what an amazing busy second day. I love Lucinda Scala Quinn!! I watch Mad Hungry on the Hallmark Channel every day now and I follow her on Twitter and in her blog. And Sarah Carey - I always enjoy seeing her from time to time on TV produced by MSLO. And her cookbooksare such a delight. It was appropriate you were the Mistress of Ceremonies for Nobu. There is no more perfect person to have played that role. Miami looked beautiful. I'm so glad you had a lovely weekend. Thank you so very much for sharing. I followed you on Twitter over the weekend but sometimes it was hard for me to keep up with you! You were so busy. Your blog these past two days have connected all the many dots for me. You really never stop. Your pictures are just wonderful to see and all your captions are perfect. I feel like I was your guest for the weekend
xo
Lisa
Posted by: Lisa Gordon-Miller | February 28th, 2013 at 12:59 pm
Wow! Such a treat to see what you do almost on a daily basis!! Beautiful sunshine and beaches - and celebrities galore - such a good life....smiles!
Posted by: Dianna | February 28th, 2013 at 1:44 pm
It looks like you had a fabulous time! Love your sequined outfit - so festive for a celebration. Can't wait until it is warm and sunny in my part of the country too!
Posted by: Laura Dembowski | February 28th, 2013 at 3:02 pm
Hi, there, Martha,
It's so much fun when you take us along with you!!! You even share photos of the wall paper, floor coverings, and beautiful people. What a spectacular event! I love seeing the chefs I know and enjoy.
I so enjoyed your cooking school series on PBS. I learned a lot and have been using what I learned. I, also, adore Sarah Carey. When I watch her cooking videos, I know she's talking directly to me and telling me "you can do this!!!!
Thank you so much Martha and Sarah. You both really improve our lives!
Posted by: Bobbie | February 28th, 2013 at 5:03 pm
I love the sparkly outfit! Love the capri-style dressy pants--I'd love to find some of those!
Posted by: Deb | February 28th, 2013 at 5:45 pm
HI Martha, I've never seen a beach like that in Miami. The sand looks white and I never knew it to be; and that beautiful blue ocean/sky was intoxicating. The last time I was there was a couple of decades ago and I remember it differently. Now I'm thinking, why leave the U.S.? Just head to Miami. Congrats to the Mandela women too on their business venture. As always, thanks for sharing the great photos from your wonderful life.
Posted by: ceecee | February 28th, 2013 at 8:12 pm
This looks wonderful, the beach and the food especially and oh, the hotel.
Posted by: Cathie@devour catering | March 3rd, 2013 at 1:18 am
Looked like a wonderful time - could use some of that warm weather around here. The nibblers on the bamboo mats looked delicious. A beautiful event - Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Nicole | March 3rd, 2013 at 6:42 pm
I had so much fun at SOBE, so sad I missed your demo though! I didn't come until Saturday night. I love all of the pictures you always share!!
Posted by: JulieD | March 6th, 2013 at 7:32 pm
I love photo #36: the allee of palm trees. Everything was beautiful.
Posted by: Karen | March 10th, 2013 at 9:46 am