James Beard Award-winning chef/restaurateur Michael Schwartz will headline as the Celebrity Chef for this year’s Orange Bowl Impact and Excellence Awards (The OBIEs): A Taste of South Florida presented by Florida Blue. The event takes place on Friday, May 20, 2016 at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center at 7:30 p.m.
The evening will be hosted by Lisa Petrillo, the Entertainment and Lifestyle Reporter for WFOR, CBS4 in Miami. In addition to reporting on entertainment, she hosts the CBS4 “Taste of the Town” segment celebrating South Florida’s growing culinary scene and reports on fashion, travel and other lifestyle trends. Petrillo has received three Emmys: two for writing and one for on-camera performance.
As the international face of South Florida’s restaurant scene and known for his legacy of straightforward, seasonal cooking, Michael Schwartz is a giant in the culinary world and was honored in 2010 with the prestigious James Beard Award for Best Chef: South. A native of Philadelphia, Schwartz charted a career in kitchens from California and Colorado, to Japan and New York before settling in South Florida in the early 1990s where he has lived since with his family on Miami Beach. Schwartz brought with him a passion for celebrating fresh, simple and pure ingredients in season, the driving force behind his flagship neighborhood bistro, Michael’s Genuine® Food & Drink, which opened in Miami’s Design District in 2007 and celebrates its 10th anniversary next year. Focusing on the entire restaurant experience where delicious food meets genuine hospitality and service, Schwartz has continued to transform the South Florida dining scene, imparting this same attention to hospitality and care of sourcing ingredients at his complementary concepts now including Harry’s Pizzeria®, Cypress Tavern and ella pop café.
The OBIEs: A Taste of South Florida presented by Florida Blue features a night of extraordinary food, entertainment and giving as the Orange Bowl Committee celebrates those who share the organization’s values in giving back to the South Florida community. Many of the area’s top culinary chefs and restaurants will serve their best bites for the chance to be named Flavor of South Florida. A group of graduating high school senior student athletes from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties will receive scholarships and one outstanding South Florida resident will be honored with the 2016 Keith Tribble Community Service Excellence Award for the work he or she does to make a difference.
Over the years, the Orange Bowl has been able to invest millions of dollars toward South Florida youth and sports through support of intercollegiate athletics, education, events, organizations and causes, in addition to the tremendous economic impact it provides. At this year’s event, approximately $100,000 will be given back to the South Florida community. Proceeds from The OBIEs: A Taste of South Florida presented by Florida Blue will go toward Make-A-Wish Southern Florida, Special Olympics Florida and the Orange Bowl Leadership Academy.
Much of the success and longevity of The OBIEs can be attributed to Florida Blue, the presenting sponsor, which is joined by associate sponsors Capital One, Coca-Cola, Dave & Buster’s, Deloitte, Florida Prepaid College Board, Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, Mercer Estates, NCCI, Stella Artois, Sun Life Stadium, Toyota, Wizard Creations and our media sponsors CBS South Florida Television Stations, WFOR-TV & WBFS-TV.
For more information and tickets visit our website http://community.orangebowl.org/OBIEs/ or call 305-341-4701.