Sophia Brittan and Friends with Tom Colicchio

Last night I attended the party as part of the festivities of the South Beach Wine and Food Festival here in Miami. The event was hosted by Perrier Jouet, and involved lots of great chefs putting forth their best barbeque dishes, and LOTS of champagne. Some stars from the food world were there, such as Tom Colicchio, Marcus Samuelsson, Rick Bayless, Dana Cowin, Gail Simmons, Rocco DiSpirito, and Bethenny Frankel. There were a bunch of Top Chef contestants as well. (I really can't bring myself to use the word "cheftestant").

My favorite stand of the night was that of Claude Troisgros, chef of the Blue Door restaurant at the Delano. He pioneered French-Brazilian fusion cooking, and prepared duck with a sugar cane caramel sauce over taro puree. It was amazing. I would venture to say it was in the top 20 best things I have ever eaten. I had seconds, and would have gone for thirds if I had not been whisked away to the next booth. The taro puree made the evening. But maybe that is because I love my tubers. My other favorite of the night was by Ilan Hall, winner of Season 2 of Top Chef. He had a fried chicken skin sandwich on rye bread. I abhor rye bread, but somehow the fatty chicken skin balanced it out, because it was absolutely delicious. Tom Colicchio was also there, of course, serving pulled pork sandwiches and ribs. They were awesome. Even more awesome was the photo op we got with him.

I was tried my best to not be a complete and total glutton, though quite unsuccesfully. Did I mention the Godiva Lounge? Enough said.