Miami, FL – Vanessa James Media Productions is thrilled to announce the triumphant return of Meals, Wine, and Fete, powered by LunaLite Drone Applied sciences, Miami’s premier Caribbean all-inclusive beachside Soca Fete expertise, set for Saturday, Could seventeenth, 2025, from 5-11 pm on the Historic Virginia Key Seashore Park’s Grand Pavilion, celebrating its momentous eightieth anniversary! Put together for an immersive journey into the guts of Caribbean tradition, a sensory explosion that may have you ever instantly craving an island getaway.
Now in its third yr, Meals, Wine, and Fete showcases the diaspora’s most visionary cooks, progressive mixologists, and trendsetting tastemakers, alongside a curated number of fashionable wines and spirits of the Caribbean. That is the place tradition breathes, the place each sip and each beat connects you to the guts of the Caribbean.
“Meals, Wine & Fete isn’t simply an occasion; it’s our love letter to the tradition that we treasure so dearly. It’s about igniting that eager for dwelling, that craving for the heat of our islands, unequalled anyplace else on the planet,” mentioned co-founder Vanessa James.
In our third yr, we’ve turned up the flavour with a contemporary lineup of culinary stars:
- Chef Irie returns as our culinary ambassador for this yr’s competition. The recipient of the celebrated James Beard award, this Jamaican culinary trailblazer has carried his “Meals on Fiyah” signature cooking fashion globally. By no means quick on vibes to match his insatiable dishes.
- Emmy award-winning chef Simeon Corridor, Jr, joins us for the primary time this yr from the Bahamas, the place he’ll wow us in a reside cooking demonstration, giving patrons a style of all 700 islands and showcasing the depth and variety of Bahamian flavors.
- Chef Troy Tingling of SoulFly Hen is contemporary off his world tour, cooking up a storm in Dubai and again with two showcases this yr on our coveted “Foodie Avenue”. He’s crafting ‘Soulfly’s Escovitch Fried Hen’ and a Caribbean staple ‘Dahl and Saltfish Choka. Troy started mixing Caribbean flavors to create fusion recipes; he has additionally cooked for ex-Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
- Celeb Chef Paul Griffith, a Barbados-born culinary prodigy, serves up a number of the finest meals to music and Hollywood celebrities in Miami, together with NFL groups and his dishes by no means steer removed from his Barbadian roots. Griffith is again to showcase his world-class hospitality headlining the competition’s VIP part, serving up Bajan Shrimp and Crab Salad Martini with Pickled Cucumber and some extra surprises.
- Chef Kimesha Chong of Kanin Catering brings her distinctive mix of culinary experience—as a chef, occasion planner, and foodie—to the VIP menu, that includes distinctive Caribbean vegan and vegetarian dishes.
- Myriam “Chef Mimi” Charles, the award-winning pastry chef, Miami native recognized for her triumph on Cooking Channel’s “Cake Hunters’ and because the founding father of Lux Cakery, she’ll be infusing her Haitian roots into her insatiable desserts with the return of her signature rum and wine-infused cake jars – an enormous hit with competition goers.
- Chef Christian Barruos-Brens, award-winning Chef Christian, is firing up the grill and shifting gears from candy to savory. Put together for his Freddy SmashBurger—a dish that transcends mere delicacies. It’s a strong tribute to his late father, Freddy, and a scrumptious reflection of his Dominican roots and tradition.
- Trinidadian-born Chef Arry, making his fete debut, introduces his fascinating Indo-Caribbean fusion. Prepare for an explosion of his signature, irresistible, bite-sized curry creations.
The driving power behind any true Caribbean fete? SOCA! Put together to maneuver your waistline from the get-go; we’re delivering the final word, dance-fueled vibes from begin to end! Taking middle stage at FWF this yr, we’re thrilled to welcome celebrated Trinidadian Soca artist Farmer Nappy, who will likely be performing his a long time of chart-topping hits and heating issues up, alongside Chef Irie in our demo kitchen.
Plus spinning reside, our Soca DJ Lineup consists of:
And, by overwhelming fashionable demand, our esteemed sponsor, LunaLite Drone Applied sciences, returns to shut the fete with a panoramic drone present, illuminating the Miami skyline.
“As we put together to have a good time 80 years of all issues Historic Virginia Key Seashore Park, we’re excited for the return of Meals, Wine & Fete to host an unbelievable expertise celebrating Caribbean tradition by way of its cooks, artists, and neighborhood. By means of this partnership, we glance to have a good time the various cultures of South Florida with a deal with neighborhood engagement, selling native tourism and financial progress by way of the help of worldwide culinary artisans,” says Athalie Edwards, Govt Director/ CEO of the Virginia Key Seashore Park Belief.
Meals Wine & Fete has additionally added a philanthropic arm of the occasion to help Caribbean creatives, cooks, and companies of the diaspora, by partnering with the Miami Basis, the group has created the VJMedia x FWF Tradition and Caribbean Management Fund by way of the Miami Basis. That is our neighborhood fund that serves because the platform to spotlight the cultural creatives of South Florida.
“It’s a shared expertise, the place all of us come collectively as one Caribbean household. From the second you arrive, you’ll be a part of one thing really particular, an interactive celebration that ignites the spirit of our tradition. And most significantly, get able to FETE – to bop, wine, style, and have a good time the boundless power that makes us who we’re – one unbelievable diaspora!” mentioned co-founder Marcos Rodriguez.
Tickets can be found for buy on Eventbrite beginning at $125 and $185 for VIP. The competition has partnered with Hilton Backyard Inn Miami Brickell South to offer decreased group charges for these visiting from out of city or South Florida who wish to make a weekend out of the expertise.
Collaborating sponsors embrace: Vanessa James Media, LunaLite Drone Applied sciences, LaFete Rose Wine, Bajan 1966 Rum, DonDadda Tequila, Duke and Dame Whiskey, Carib Beer, Caribe, The Montpelier Lodge Nevis, The Jamaica Pegasus Lodge, Greatest Dressed Plate, and extra.
Meals, Wine, and Fete provides a singular alternative for manufacturers to faucet into an prosperous, well-traveled, and extremely motivated various neighborhood and showcase their choices. Partnership and press alternatives enable manufacturers to face out amid a sea of motivated patrons. For extra details about partnership alternatives, sampling alternatives, and press inquiries, go to www.foodwineandfete.com. Comply with the Meals, Wine, and Fete enjoyable on Instagram and Fb.
