Two new features to the 57th Coconut Grove Arts Festival – a special Valentine’s Day concert by Emily Estefan and a Chef’s Table where three top local chefs prepared dishes for guests – added sparkle to this year’s event. Held every President’s Day weekend, the three-day street festival in the heart of the Grove attracts locals and visitors here to explore art from 360 artists, listen to music, eat and drink, and watch chef demos.
Over the course of the weekend, the Culinary Pavilion was buzzing, with demos by chefs Ted Mendez of The Mayfair, Master Chef Junior Maria Dakis, Richard Gruica of Good Eats & Meets, Ralph Pagano of the Naked Taco, Paul Aceto of Silver Spoon Events, Michael Beltran of Ariete, Ashley Stanton of the Ritz-Carlton, Coconut Grove, Alain Lemaire of Lemaire Hospitality Group, Michael Finizia of the Marlins, Bernie Matz of Bodega Taqueria and Tequila, Paulette Bilsky-Phillips, culinary consultant, and Bernardo Espinel and Malka Espinel, instructors at Miami Culinary Institute.
On Monday, the new Chef’s Table event featured chefs Allen Susser, Jeff McInnis and Norman Van Aken, who each cooked and taught local dishes. All could watch, and those participants who paid were treated to the meal with wine. On hand all weekend were Miami Culinary Institute culinary and hospitality students.
Proceeds from the new event help fund scholarships presented by the CGAF to qualified culinary arts students.
Participants in the first Norman Van Akens Chef Table
