Last night, Las Olas Boulevard hosted the annual Wine and Food Festival, which was held on a Saturday night for the first time. As the festival sells out every year, its not clear why they moved it from Thursday to Saturday. Instead of creating an ultra busy Thursday for area bars and restaurants, they ended up stealing a lot of business from them as the usual Las Olas crowd was in the street with their plastic butler trays and wine glasses.
The event didn't seem as busy as usual. Every year I wonder why they don't sell more tickets. There is rarely a line for wine, and only lines for the most popular restaurant tables. There weren't all that many people hanging out in the area; the bands played with no-one seeming to pay attention. It just seemed like such a sterile event. VIPs who paid $225. for the priviledge of hanging out on the big lawn, seemed less than inspired as well.
Personally I think they should re-think this event to make it more interesting. Obviously they make a killing on it, but for $75pp you can get a pretty good meal with service and ambiance at just about any restaurant in Fort Lauderdale not named Martorano's. I can't see getting excited about walking around with a thimble-sized wine glass and sampling pizza slices, pulled pork on hamburger buns and red cabbage.
The big problem with the event is that Restaurants really don't get anything out of it. The promise of "exposure" is largely bogus, except perhaps for some very obscure places that few know about. Nobody is going to go to a restaurant because of a sample they got from a buffet tray in a street fair. The effect is that restaurants that participate don't put out very good food. Its basically a donation from the restaurants, and in tough times they're just not going to be able to give away anything worthwhile.
I had to close comments on this for the very reason that we don't allow comments generally; the modern human being reacts to any criticism with attacks rather than thoughtful introspection. The problem with Fort Lauderdale is that everyone is so busy telling each other how great a job they're doing and patting each other on the back that nothing ever gets any better. If you think the event is perfect; then you're a fool. If you only accept praise and reject all criticism then you're delusional. Meanwhile the restaurant owners are mostly grumbling about getting strong-armed into participating in these events where they have to give a lot more than they get back.
The truth is that this particular event has always been boring and poorly done. Its a money grab, granted for a worthy cause, but they could do a lot better job with it. Such as using some of the proceeds to fund better food instead of sucking every last dollar out. You don't have $1000/plate fundraisers and serve meatloaf. Charity events can be successful without making both the vendors and the attendees feel like suckers. But this event isn't one of those.
A lot of people have written saying what a fantastic time they had and that I must just be a mean person. But the pictures don't lie. Look at the photos. Those are not the faces of people having a great time. They are the faces of disappointed people who came expecting a feast and who got a snack bar instead.
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