SOBE Wine And Food Festival 2019: Emiril, Guy, Giada, Rocco

MIAMI BEACH, FL — Emiril Lagasse, Guy Fieri, Giada DeLaurentiis and Rocco DiSpirito were but a few of the celebrity chefs who "bammed" and sauteed and poached and roasted to the delight of an estimated 60,000 foodies over the weekend from across the U.S. and as far away as Denmark and Thailand at the 18th Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival.

"It’s the best party of the year," declared "Lucky" Balan, who moved from Brooklyn to Hallandale Beach and now attends the five-day event every year. "You go in and you have all of these booths with really beautiful food."

Balan sampled champagne and Prosecco during a mixed alcohol tasting. "Then, I found the Hennessy booth and they kept filling up my glass," he confided.

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Fortunately, he was last seen taking a Lyft home.

Eye from Thailand was helping to organize the line from taking on a fusilli shape as the crowd mounted outside the Barilla sampling station.

"Everything is nice here in Miami. It’s so nice to be here," explained Eye, who was part of a class of 90 hospitality students from Denmark that volunteered their time while soaking up knowledge around such a massive event."I have learned many things. It's different than Denmark."

Organizers say the event was not only a good learning experience, but has raised more than $28 million over the years for the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Florida International University. It is meant to serve as an interactive educational platform for more than 1,200 students who help pull off the festival each year.

Giovanni was visiting from Boston. "I had really good food, especially from Venezuela," he explained. "I would recommend it every day."

Eight cousins from Monroe Township, New Jersey were so eager to get to the festival that they showed up a day early to scope out the venue.

"We actually happened to be stopping by to see what the process would be tomorrow," said trip organizer Hedy on Saturday. "A couple of couples had eight extra tickets — and they ended up giving them to us."

Her cousin Sara — without an 'h' because 'h' is ewwww, she says, quoting a "Saturday Night Live" skit — made the most of their unexpected good fortune, particularly since a single one-day ticket to Saturday's daytime event cost as much as $225 per person.

"We just sampled all the different food and danced around," she explained, adding that her family members had just been reading about a fuel spill on Patch before trading in frigid New Jersey for the 80s of South Beach. "We didn’t watch any of the shows today. We’ll do that tomorrow."

A nurse from Fort Pierce Florida made the three-hour drive to experience the South Beach festival with her friend, an internist.

That was still a bargain compared to flying somewhere to dine at a celebrity chef's restaurant.

"You got to meet the celebrity chefs, [and sample] the liquor, the wine," she said. "To go eat at one of their restaurants, how much would you pay for that? It’s worth it."

Her friend Helwey, a physician, said they got to watch demos by Alex Guarnaschelli, Rocco DiSpirito and Masaharu Morimoto — all in one afternoon.

"In my mind I’m a cook," the doctor told Patch.