Thursday, March 4, 2010

SoBe it! 2010 - Final Shots II

Hey there! Well, it's taken me a bit to post the final shots from the SoBe Food and Wine festival because I took a few extra days in Miami to relax. I ate out, hibernated in my room a bit and went out to clubs with friends. If you are in Miami, Club Louis at the Gansevoort South is perfect on a Tuesday night for a good party! I went out with some friends and didn't even get to sleep before my 7AM flight. That's good for chef/restaurateur Donatella Arpaia, because I sat next to her on my flight home and slept the whole way. If I weren't so tired, I may have talked her ear off or at least gushed to tell her how proud I am as a business woman. I did get a chance to edit it down to just a few minutes while we landed. Turns out she watches Cooking for Real and she's very, very nice! I'm not saying it because she watches though, you can just tell from chatting with some people that it's all about the passion and not the ego of the whole thing. She's such a hard worker and has great things on the horizon. Nice to get a seat next to her and spread some smiles. Now I'm home and back to work! Tomorrow, I leave for a quick tour of Publix grocery stores in Florida and Georgia for some cooking classes I'm hosting. Yep, right back to Florida and I can't wait! Gonna see if I can get people Cooking for Real on the road! In the meantime, here are the rest of my pics ...

Back stage in the green room for the cooking demonstrations I caught a show being taped for Food Network. Can you guess which one??
I know you see Pat Neely in the background, but the crew is there to tape Ace of Cakes! Looks like they'll have an episode following the team to the festival and watching what happens when they take the stage for the cooking demonstration. After they cleared out and went on stage, look who got off stage and made their first stop the green room to relax ...
That's actually my first time chatting with Paula Deen! We've met very briefly, but she is always so busy and surrounded by friends and family that it's hard to chat. She is just as sweet as you can imagine though and after I told her about specific shows of hers I loved and how I can be brought to tears just by her tearing up over food ... she invited me on her show! I immediately said yes and I look forward to pulling all the loose ends together now that I'm home. If you would have told me a few years ago Paula would ask me to be on the her show, I would've exploded lol. It's neat to me that she comes on right before me on Saturdays too. A great lead-in as the TV people say! I just totally respect her path in life and it wasn't an easy path to where she is now, I'm happy all her efforts payed off. Ok, then I went back out to the fairway area and chatted it up with some more people at the Viva Towels Booth ...



The camera man behind me is shooting video for an internal Food Network video they'll use to showcase at the cable network up fronts. Ever hear of those? More on that later ... back to Miami! You can tell by looking at the different outfits in the pictures that it wasn't super warm down on South Beach, but it wasn't cold either. A very nice middle ground around the mid-70s all weekend was perfect for sipping wine. Last year it was about 20 degrees warmer and there were surely more people stumbling out than walking out. Heat just magnifies everything. Take a look at the tents on Saturday ...
I have to tell ya, it seems impossible to power through all of the vendors in one day and because of that many people bought tickets for the entire weekend. Wanna know the price of that?? Check Jacob's blog ... the saving grace for the ticket prices is the charity attached. Young culinary students get grants for school in exchange for working at the events. Pretty cool and each student I spoke with was super excited to not only get the grant, but to work side by side with people in an industry they plan to join. Here's someone I worked with side by side before I got on Food Network ...
Back then I was a radio DJ that catered for music industry even and he was ... well, Emeril Lagasse! Nuff said! He gave me my start here on Food Network when I cooked with him on Emeril Live back in 05 and every time I get to give him a hug ... I take it. He has a new cooking show on the way he told me about and I can't wait to see it. After I said hi to him, I let him get back to work. He was signing cookbooks and taking pictures for what seems like forever. I made that the last stop for the day and headed back to my hotel. Just as I was walking up to my room I caught a store in the lobby I didn't remember seeing last year. I think I'd remember seeing these huuuuuuuuge cupcakes. Or are they mini cakes???!!!
Well, it's not all about cupcakes ... the place is called SoBe Scoops and I tasted the purple flavor in the top right. It was raspberry chocolate and then I tried the cookies and cream, the peanut butter and then settled on not ice cream, but a 100 Grand bar, a Kit Kat and a bag of Poppycock popcorn - Pecan lovers.
Here's store manager Gianna and coworker Ebonique. Thanks for letting me sample waaaay too much ice cream ladies!
Here's a wide shot of the store ...
Colorful and inviting, eh? They've only been open a few months and I think it's a smart store for a hotel lobby. I always need a sweet note at the end of a meal and how many Key Lime pie slices can you eat? :-) Well, I could actually eat many so that's a bad example, but you feel me. Ok .... that was Saturday.

The next day, I started the same ... at the Viva Booth. Only this time I met the winner of the Viva sweepstakes! Take a look!
That's Randy and his wife. they both entered to win and Randy was the lucky one. They got a year's supply of Viva Towels and a trip down to the festival to hang out. I actually met them Friday night at the Bubbles&Q party so by time we took this picture ...we were old friends :-). I kept telling everyone they were the winners because don't you always wonder IF there are winners of those things?? We had a good time chatting and hanging out. Right after we took this we both had to head back to the hotel so we hopped in golf carts and sped off. Randy and his wife were headed home and I was checking into another hotel to lengthen my stay in Miami. My first order of biz was a quick birthday hello to one of the reader's of this blog ...
That's Heather, aka "Dolphinfanhq" on blog comments. I put the call out for bloggers that wanted to meet up while I was in town and she replied, so we met and hung out for a few minutes before I headed off to a meeting. I also met "reyna" that Sunday night at Guy's party. What a nice surprise that was!! The weekend was almost over and I hadn't really hung out with my bloggin buddy Jacob so I invited him over for a Monday brunch on my patio along with a couple other friends. Here he is right before he headed off for the airport ...
We're smiling cuz we made it through the weekend with out a hitch and we are full. Just look at my plate ...
Well, that's it! All my stuff to share from the weekend! Catch me tomorrow night on Best Thing I Ever Ate - Guilty Pleasures @10 pm ET. I won't ruin it, but mine is from New Orleans ... home of the guilty pleasure if you ask me :-).

12 comments:

jen @ one curly fry said...

Oh Sunny - these pics are killing me! I totally wish I could've made it down there this year! It looks like you had SO much fun!!!!

Keep me posted on when it's all going down next year! I definitely want to make it down!

We're planning a weekend trip to NYC once the weather warms up a little bit - so I'm excited about that! We just need to figure out where the heck to stay and what places to check out! :)

Rich'n'Rach said...

Best Thing I Ever Ate is probably in my top 3 favorite Food Network shows! We'll definitely be watching...drooling the entire time, I'm sure ;)

jacob said...

Quite a full weekend! And thanks for the reminder about the festival income going to the charity and scholarships. Much easier to stomach! Great seeing you again.

Anca said...

Hi Sunny nice to meat u and i like "cooking for real "and i follow more ....chef ...and i enjoed every day :)
i like to learn everything about cooking soooo ....
i like ur blog (ur litle house )
if ur intersting my blog

http://anca-retetedelicioase.blogspot.com
(im Romanian )

see u and take care

The Duo Dishes said...

Here's hoping next year will include a trip to the festival for either one of us! The cooking courses through Publix are pretty fun and interesting...and nicely priced. Gave spots as a gift to a couple of friends, and they had a good time.

Lys said...

Cooking Classes on the Road - a Cooking for Real out and about. Hmmm... I think the new Sur La Table that is opening in King of Prussia should have a Sunny Anderson cooking class (or book signing when the cookbook debuts), don't you? Publix is an awesome company - wish they were up here in Philly but sadly, no go :(

OK, that's it - definitely going to SOBE next year. As for Donatella - love her. How could I not - her original title for her cookbook was "Cooking in Heels" *LOL* :)

Cassandra Boston said...

Hi Sunny, I just wanted to thank you for letting me live vicariously through you. I have a Spinal Cord Injury, therefore I don't take many trip without my family. We have taken vacations every year since I was 10 years old I'm 34 now. I haven't always been in a wheelchair. I was injured in a car accident when I was 17. I'm sure you know how family vacations can be. Sometimes you wished you stayed at home or drove to the location yourself. But anyway you give good description of whatever activities you've done or going to do that's one of the reasons I like your show because of the stories you tell. Its like I form mental pictures of the people and places that you talk about most often. Keep doing what you do best and I'll continue to watch and read the blog. Oh before I forget has anyone ever told you you look a lot like Queen Latifah? I was watching her last night on Jimmy Kimmel and I was like you two favor.

Dolphinfanhg said...

Sunny, Such an honor and pleasure to meet you in Miami! You are so sweet and gracious, and thanks for posting our pic on your blog! I posted it on my blog too..check it out: http://addictedtothefoodnetwork.blogspot.com/

You are an inspiration, and have truly made my year! Thank you again! xoxo

Dolphinfanhg said...

PS Sunny, I totally stole your blog title idea, but I gave you credit....hope you don't mind!

Sunny Anderson said...

jen, thanks! i did have fun, but it was still work, so i didn't let loose as much as i would've if i were attending for pleasure. hope the trip plans to nyc are comin along ... it's perfect in the weeks before summer!

rich'n'rach, i like it too, i may miss it tonight and have to catch it on dvr. i have dinner plans here in tampa i refuse to miss!!

jacob, yeah, totally full. lol. thanks for wakin up for a bfast!! if i didn't do that bfast i would've probably slept in until nighttime lol.

anca, thanks for reading my blog and watching the show. i really appreciate your support. i can't wait to see your blog and check out some romanian dishes! keep in touch and thanks again for the support.

the duo dishes, i can't wait to cook and hang with everyone, thanks for the review! i checked the website and i'm super happy the tickets are affordable!!!

lys, maybe when i get my cookbook up and running, i can do a super crazy tour of the country! and yesssss, you must hang out at the festival next year ... or maybe nyc this year?

cassandra boston, wow. well, thank you so much for the compliment on my story telling. it's all i want to do ... paint a picture with words while i cook. it's all i have to communicate the things, places, tastes, scents and other stuff from my life. i can't see loving something without having a story about it. so, that's why i share the details. so nice to know my words are coming across well and you can get a mental picture of things. thanks so much for stopping by to say hi, i really appreciate it. thanks for watching too ... i can't do it without ya! good luck with those family trips! teeheehee, i say a good book or an ipod in the back seat should do the trick! :-)

dolphinfanhg, it was my honor!!! you do get that i can't do my dream job with out you right!?!? happy bday girrrrl! and p.s. it's totally cool to use an idea of mine ... i like to share :-)

Reyna said...

Hi Sunny...Thanks so much for the mention in the blog. It was so AWESOME to meet you and I have to agree with "dolphinfanhg", "...you have truly made my year". Once again you are such a inspiration =D Funny to say I am watching Cooking for Real right now as I am writing this (Grandmas Apple Pound Cake)...lol. Cant wait for Paula and you to do the show together...that will be amazing!

I second the motion for Cooking of Real on the road tour =)

Leila Daily said...

Yaay! Let us know when you're going to be on Paula's show!