Throughout the spring of 2018, more than 2,500 food, wine and beer lovers gathered at the 22nd annual VeritageMiami to eat, drink and unite, raising $1.5 million for United Way of Miami-Dade. For the sixth consecutive year, City National Bank was the presenting sponsor of the four-day gathering, which included an Interactive Dinner led by Top Chef alums Jeff McInnis and Janine Booth, a world-class Bubbly Brunch & Auction at The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne, a Craft Beer Tasting at the Wynwood Walls and an exclusive Associate Legal Mingle at the Moore Building.
Chefs Jeff McInnis and Janine Booth of Stiltsville Fish Bar and Root & Bone kicked festivities off at the Interactive Dinner at the InterContinental Miami. The chefs led 600 guests through their own four-course meal, while dozens of culinary students from Johnson & Wales University served as sous chefs at the guests’ tables. The foodie dinner consisted of: royal red coconut shrimp with key lime cilantro aioli; pumpernickel “soil” with baby root vegetables; pan-seared short rib meatloaf with buttermilk whipped potatoes and house-made tomato jam; and for dessert, key lime ice cream sundae.
Returning to Key Biscayne for a second year, the Bubbly Brunch & Auction at The Ritz-Carlton properties took guests through an international culinary journey featuring classic dishes from Ritz-Carlton hotels around the world. To raise the bar as guests raised their paddles, Champagne Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut and Blason Rosé flowed freely, while guests bid on glorious wines, vacations and more.
Highlights from the live auction at the Interactive Dinner and Bubbly Brunch & Auction included: a trip for four to Bordeaux and Cognac, including private tours, and tastings at four of the greatest châteaux in the Médoc; a trip to Champagne Krug, including a full day visit to the Clos de Mesnil vineyard and a private tasting of the Krug portfolio; a trip to Scotland’s most revered distilleries, Glenmorangie and Ardbeg; a one-night stay for four couples at Perrier-Jouët’s Maison Belle Époque in Reims, with dinner hosted by Perrier-Jouët Chef de Cave Hervé Deschamps; a trip to Napa Valley, including a private tour and tasting at the Pulido-Walker winery; a multi-course dinner for 20 at a private home, prepared by chefs McGinnis and Booth; a multi-course dinner for 10 at Alter with a selection of rare and prized wines from Paul Hobbs; and 12 bottles of wines from Colgin Cellars, including Tychson Hill Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and Cariad Red Wine.
Up next, the crowd favorite Craft Beer Tasting “tapped” into more than 140 top-notch local, regional and national craft beers and micro-brews at dozens of tasting stations. The mural-adorned Wynwood Walls and Wynwood Gardens served as the backdrop of this walk-around tasting, which also featured food from dozens of South Florida restaurants. Hundreds of guests enjoyed beers paired with fare from local restaurants, including: Fufi Restaurant, Gusto RistoBar, Harry’s Pizzeria, KYU, R House, Shake Shack Miami Beach, Two Chefs, Wynwood Kitchen & Bar, Wynwood Parlor and Zuuk Mediterranean Kitchen, among many others. Guests voted for the People’s Choice Awards – ultimately crowning KYU. Miami’s trendiest breweries and distributors kept the beer flowing, including: Biscayne Bay Brewing Company, Bousa Brewing Company, Concrete Beach Brewery, Coppertail Brewing Co., Funky Buddha Brewery, J. Wakefield Brewing, Lost City Brewing Company, Magic Hat Brewing Company, MIA Beer Company, Swamp Head Brewery, The Tank Brewing Co., Tap 42, Veza Sur Brewing Co. and Wynwood Brewing Company, among many others. Festivities continued at the United Way Young Leaders After-Party at Concrete Beach Brewery, where guests enjoyed beats by DJ Ethics and food from Mardrecita’s Bistro Restaurant.
The festivities concluded at the 8th annual Associate Legal Mingle under the world famous “Elastika” at the Moore Building, with 200 members of the legal community gathering for a great cause, enjoying VeritageMiami Best in Glass gold medal wines, cocktails by Bacardi and bites prepared by Beaker & Gray, Lima at Atton Brickell Miami and Mena Catering.
Joining City National Bank as sponsors are: American Airlines and Celebrity Cruises at the Vintner level; Bacardi, Bank of America, Bilzin Sumberg, Greenberg Traurig, Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald, Champagne Perrier-Jouët and Ryder System at the Cellar Master level; Baptist Health South Florida, Cherry Bekaert, Deloitte, InterContinental Miami, Johnson & Wales University, King Ocean Services, The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne and Sunset Corners Fine Wine & Spirits at the Cooper level; Acqua Panna S. Pellegrino (Nestle Waters), Akerman, Carlton Fields, Global Resource Registry, Gray Robinson, Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, Hersha Hospitality Trust, MCM and Munilla Family Foundation, Northern Trust, Noven Pharmaceuticals, Sherwood Food Distributors and Wynwood Walls at the Sommelier level; Warren Henry Auto Group at the Luxury Auto sponsor level; Brickell Magazine, Indulge Magazine and Key Biscayne Magazine at the Scribes level.
Founding trustees include: Jayne and Leonard Abess, Dora and Daniel Alonso, Alcides I. Avila, Peter R. Baranoff, Hilarie Bass, Claudia Succar Ferré and Alexander Binelo, Linda and Michael Bittel, Annelies and Jossy Da Costa Gomez, Diana Morrison and Itchko Ezratti, Colleen and Richard D. Fain, Ramon Falero, Nelly and Miguel Farra, Eric Feder, Lourdes and Benjamín Fernández, Megan and James Ferraro, Maria Elena and Frank Gonzalez, Melinda and Jorge Gonzalez, Philip Levine, Pablo Lucchesi, Jose R. Mas, Carlos Migoya, Jeffrey Miller, Ely and Marcos Morjain, June and Allen Morris, Amanda and Antonio Neuman, Susan and Bob Norton, Armando J. Olivera, Sonia and Nestor Plana, Leslie Miller Saiontz, Swapnil Shah, Anand Singh, Madeleine and Neil Solomon, Oscar Suarez, Florencia Tabeni, Lydia and Rudy Touzet, Jorge Woldenberg, Richard Yulman and Judy Zeder.
For a full list of participating restaurants, wineries, breweries and sponsors please visit www.veritagemiami.com. For event highlights and photo albums, visit www.Facebook.com/VeritageMiami, www.Twitter.com/VeritageMiami or www.Instagram.com/VeritageMiami.
About VeritageMiami
Celebrating its 22nd year, VeritageMiami brings together wine, spirits, beer and food lovers as well as top sommeliers, notable chefs, prestigious wineries and winemakers, breweries and impressive auction lots. All VeritageMiami events benefits United Way of Miami-Dade’s work in education, financial stability and health. For more information, visit VeritageMiami.com, facebook/VeritageMiami, twitter.com/VeritageMiami and instagram.com/VeritageMiami.
About United Way of Miami-Dade
Since 1924, United Way of Miami-Dade has been an innovative force in the community, successfully responding to emerging needs and transforming people’s lives. Today our work is focused on education, financial stability and health – the building blocks for a good life. We invest in quality programs, advocate for better policies, engage people in the community and generate resources. To learn more, give, advocate or volunteer, visit unitedwaymiami.org, facebook.com/UnitedWayMiami, twitter.com/UnitedWayMiami or instagram/UnitedWayMiami.