SoBeWFF: A Red Hot Night of Salsa and Boxed Wine

All photos by Laine Doss

The salsa music wafted onto the beach as we walked toward the party tent on Saturday evening. Walking into the tents we were bathed in a sea of red. Red lights, giant red lanterns... and red Target logos.

Target was the title sponsor of Red Hot Night and the big-box chain that sells everything from fashion to bicycles to bananas made sure to place its brand on just about everything -- from the napkins to the signage to the food and wine.

Interspersed between some good Latin-inspired flavors like Ingrid Hoffmann's paella and Larios on the Beach's yucca rellena were frozen turkey meatballs from Target's Archer Farms brand. And if you chose a glass of chardonnay over a cocktail, it came from a box. A box! At the South Beach Wine & Food Festival!

Not that people complained, actually. Everyone had kicked off their shoes and were dancing to the sounds of the Celia Cruz All-Stars, boxed wine in hand. Which leads us to believe that maybe we are wine snobs, after all.

Ingrid Hoffmann's paella.

The Local Craft Food & Drink's Vince Tien.

Celia Cruz All-Stars (and Target logo).