miami - #sobewff day one

here's my day one experience in miami for #sobewff..

i must say, miami is kinda nuts.  different than waikiki nuts.  drivers are ruthless, cab drivers are mean, people on the street are.. interesting, i rarely saw any asians!  haha.  plus, they tack on 16-18% gratuity automatically on your tab, regardless of how many people in your party!  

during the day, denise and i walked around, shopped and ate.

i HAD to stop by the kardashian sister's miami shop.  it wasn't as impressive as i hoped for, the store was empty.  they did have a security guard at the door and their service was nice.

at night, we went to #sobewff opening event beachside of the delano hotel.  

the size of the event is amazing.

the decor at #sobewff was spectacular!  i mean, the amount of people the event had was outrageous!

probably about 3,000 people?

art smith - he used to be oprah's personal chef, he was on top chef.. 

and he will be at our festival in september!

robert irvine and i throwing up the shaka for hawaii~

i know you must think it's weird, but we went out to eat after checking out the event.  :P  we went to michael's genuine food & drink - it was a casual place, with an open kitchen and patio seating.  the food was great and our server was so knowledgeable and entertaining!

deviled eggs - bomb.

hmmm those small oysters were so good! my fav.

denise & roy, it's always fun going out with them. <3

fried pig ears - the first time i had pig ears was in la at the lazy ox.  i haven't had it much since then and this one was so good.

fried hominy - you know, corn nuts!?  those white corn that's in those spicy mexican soups?  add some lime and pop it in your mouth.

desserts by james beard foundation pastry chef nominee, hedy goldsmith.

that beer float back there was amazing~

after i got back to the hotel, i didn't fall asleep till 5:30am!!  but all in all, day one was really fun!  i'm ready for more food!