Anne Burrell's Miami Dine-Around

In your opinion, how does Miami stack up against other cities, food-wise?
I've been traveling a lot these days and I've been really pleased with the quality of food all around. I have been really pleasantly surprised by what I've been eating.

You've been coming down for the South Beach Wine & Food Festival for years. How has Miami grown food-wise?
This is either my fifth or sixth year coming down for the festival. Every year there are more restaurants on my list to try. It used to be, I would come down here and it was Michael's Genuine or Michy's and maybe Prime One Twelve. Now the list is so long I feel like I need to stay extra days just to try all the new restaurants.

You're drinking a cocktail, so that leads me to the next question -- what bars do you like here in Miami and Miami Beach?
Of course, always and forever, I love Mac's Club Deuce. It's my favorite dive bar -- probably anywhere. I brought my crew there and they thought it was great.

Any other bars besides the Deuce?
Usually when I come down here it's for the food and wine festival, and outside of that I need a day off from drinking. Every once in a while that happens in my life.

Speaking of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, what are you looking forward to this year?
Every year I look forward to seeing everybody. It's kind of like spring break for chefs. I just love this festival. The crowd, the people, the energy is so great. I always look forward to doing my demo at the Grand Tasting Village. The work part doesn't seem like work at all because it's so much fun.

This year you're general manager of the team of women chefs at this year's Delta Diamond Dishes. So what does a chef GM do, actually?
I think I just get to go around and try the food. I've got a great team, so this is going to be a really good job.

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