It’s a warm February evening in South Beach and Wayne Chaplin–his dark hair tight to his head, his mouth creased into a smile–can finally relax, at least a bit. It’s the second evening of the raucous, three-day moveable feast known as the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, for the last 12 years the pet project of Chaplin and his family’s Southern Wine & Spirits of America, the country’s largest alcohol distributor. He’s sitting at a dinner in the tony Loews Hotel honoring the famed chef, Nobu Matsuhisha, joined by the likes of Martha Stewart and Christophe Navarre, the CEO of Moët Hennessy, and 577 other guests who each paid $500 a plate. This is the crowning event of the festival, which was attended by 60,000 people who mingled with all manner of famous chefs, from Food Network stars Guy Fieri and Paula Deen to highbrow pan-rattlers Alice Waters and Alain Ducasse. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest