
I read on another blog (apologies, I forget which one now...) that the
South Beach Wine & Food Festival is like Spring Break for the food industry. I wasn't there personally, but from the pictures I've seen, I'd have to say it seems pretty accurate. There was sun, sand, booze and partying.

Okay, now what's wrong with this picture from the
South Beach Wine and Food Festival party? Go on take a good look.
Here we have Top Chef winner Ilan Hall, Gail Simmons, Sam Talbot and Tom Colicchio hanging out at the Food & Wine magazine after party.

During the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, many celebrity chefs were on hand to chat with fans while signing copies of their books. On hand were the usuals (like Rachael and Giada), however there was one particular
Food Network bashing chef on hand as well. Yep that's right, our favorite celebrity chef bad-boy, Anthony Bourdain, was there too.

As promised, here's the rest of the Food Network Awards
red carpet coverage. These chefs really look glamorous when they're out of their day-to-day clothes (I must say I loved
Alton suited-up and Nigella looks stunning here). And I know that by saying stuff like this I am just propagating the whole celebrity & beauty over actual amazing food (notice that these food awards somehow didn't include any prominent restaurant chefs and even the likes of Batali and Bourdain are absent from this red carpet moment).

This weekend marked the First Annual
Food Network Awards, which took place at the
South Beach Wine & Food Festival and will air on April 15 (why such the long wait?!). The event was recorded "live" in front of an audience, however I put live in quotes because according to The Palm Beach Post there's going to be a lot of editing.
Between all the stops and starts for sound and lighting cues, the technical glitches (Emeril actually had to re-present an award after the show was finished because he mispronounced something) and the general confusion, it took about three hours for the show to be done (and I believe it’s only a 90 minute broadcast — it’s slated to air April 15).