Foodies partied well into the night at the 7th Annual Miami Lakes Food & Wine Festival.
Ticketholders enjoyed a varied menu including steak and sushi from 28 restaurants and vendors. More than two dozen companies served wines, beers and hard ciders.
“I think seven is our lucky number, I think we just have an amazing group of restaurants and beverage providers this year,” Festival Co-creator Lynn Matos said.
The Dennis Reyes Band performed popular music covers as guests sipped and strolled across Miami Lakes Optimist Park.
The annual event founded by Matos and Giuseppe Zuozo benefits the Miami Lakes Town Foundation. It encourages supporters to with its slogan, “Be kind, drink wine.”
The foundation awards grants to people in Miami Lakes for projects that support education and the community at large.
In 2024, the festival donated $18,605 to the foundation to fund 12 grants.
Midianys Gonzalez and her four friends have attended the festival every year since it launched. This time the group brought their trays from the inaugural event. They enjoyed everything this year’s bash had to offer.
“At this event there is so much wine to try, you can’t even try them all,” Gonzalez said in Spanish.
She said she also loved the huge food selection, all for the single $125 ticket.
She has collected every wine glass from each year of the festival.
“Every year they have a new restaurant or a new wine … we always go to the restaurants after,” Gonzalez said.
Amazonia Nikkei Fusion’s booth was very popular. Guests formed a long line to sample their fare until 9 p.m., when they ran out of food.
“It went very, very well this second year,” Co-owner Nicolas Malkind said in Spanish on Feb. 13. The restaurant served two courses: sushi, which was gone after the first hour, and then a risotto and a chocolate cake.
“We went more prepared and brought more food, but this year they gave us a booth in the front,” Malkind said.
As soon as people entered the festival, Amazonia’s was the first booth they gravitated toward.
It was a chance for the restaurant owner to make new friends.
“We saw a lot of our regulars and we saw people who were new,” Malkind said.
Matos said she was thankful for the support from the community, both at the event and from her partners and sponsors who made it all possible.
“I think we really hit it out of the park,” Matos said.
Sponsors
AC Graphics Digital; Andy’s Range & Training Center; BeatBox Beverages; Brightview Landscapes; Carlos Andres, CPA; DeepSleep Studio; Ernie’s Acai Bowls; Future Force Personnel Services; Gastesi Lopez Mestre & Cobiella, PLLC; The Graham Companies; Headquarter Toyota; Icelandic Glacial Water; Layer 8 Solutions; Light F/X Pros; Maverick Marketing Co.; Miami Lakes Bar Association; Olive Tree Pediatric Dentistry; Prager Metis CPAs; RE/MAX Advance Realty All Keys Real Estate; Miami-Dade County Commissioner Sen. René Garcia, District 13; Sierra Commercial Construction, Inc.; Signs and Banners, LLC; South Florida Laundry Solutions; Specialty Smiles Orthodontics; Steven Herzberg, P.A.; TD Bank and Water N Fire Restoration and Recovery.
Partners & Volunteers
305 Sports and Lazaro “Laz” Arcacha; 3N Outdoor Media; AC Graphics Miami; Albert Saez; Alex Castroman; Ana Marin; Annie Deleon; Brady Fire Equipment; Chris McCall; Contemporary Services Corporation; Danny de Varona; Darien Blanco; Eagle Brands Sales; Electrical Contracting Service, Inc.; Freebee; Gani Films; Gloria Garcia; Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau; Guillermo Dipp; Jaky Canet; Juan Carlos Fernandez; Jim Hamilton; Jorge Garcia; Joy Party Rentals; Judy L. Farcus Serra; Law Office of Gloria M. Garcia, P.A.; Manny Perez; Mario Pinera Jr.; Master Investigation Security, Inc.; Matthew Casamayor; Miami Lakes AutoMall; Miami Lakes BNI Excellence; Miami Lakes Chamber of Commerce; Miami Lakes Hotel on Main; Miami Lakes Optimist; Miami Lakes Town Foundation; Miami-Dade Fire Rescue; Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office – Town of Miami Lakes Municipal District; Michael Goldman; Nikolai Guzman; Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Parish; Pilar Fernandez-Rives; SFM Services, Inc.; The Cultured Local; The Miami Laker; Tico Casamayor; Tony Fernandez; Town of Miami Lakes and Vanity PR.
Food & Beverage Providers
Açaí Express; Amazonia Nikkei Fusion; Anacapri Miami; Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza; BB’s Bakehouse; Bolay; Bon Vivant; The Butcher’s Cuisine; Café 4 U Catering; Chela’s Cocteleria; Creations in Bloom; DiCED; Domenico’s Italian Restaurant; Dr. Limon Ceviche Bar; El Pimiento Restaurant; Envie Cookie & Co.; Ernie’s Acai Bowls; Gauchos Gourmet Market; Korner 67; Mayor’s Café; Meat N’ Bone; Piel De Toro Authentic Tapas; Sergio’s GO; Sports Grill Miami Lakes; Sushi Bombs; The Bend Liquor Lounge; The Garrison Taproom and Vicky Bakery.
ALDAN Wines; Anacapri Wines; AriZona Beverages USA; BeatBox Beverages; Casa Rovigatti; Che Boludo; Louis Charles Sparkling; Marchelle Wines; MBG; Misiones De Rengo; Ojalà Wines; Opici; Polar Beverages; Prison Pals Brewing Co.; Real International Wines and Spirits; Red Export Corp.; Sarah Dillihay Wines; Spritz Del Conte; Sur Valles Wine Group; The Finnish Long Drink; The Tank Brewing Co.; The Wine Nation; Valdivieso; Wine National and Zuozo Family Vineyards.