Under a sliver of moon, on a night so humid you couldn’t possibly believe it was February, the rulers of Miami’s burger world were crowned.
At the 16th annual Burger Bash, the popular kickoff event for the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, a Middle Eastern restaurant and a chain that was established on the shores of Broward County took home the big burger honors.
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Motek Cafe won the coveted People’s Choice Award and a $5,000 prize for its Arayes Burger. This is the second People’s Choice award in a row for Motek, which also won last year and has locations in downtown Miami and Aventura.
Co-owner Tessa Levy was thrilled with the win, which she said was a surprise. Not surprising: She said the Arayes is a great burger, made with two kinds of meat, grilled and served with harissa and tahini on baked pita (the only burger at the Bash served on pita).
“It’s very unique,” she said. “The quality of the meat is good, and we use lamb and beef together. It’s just different.”
BurgerFi, the South Florida chain that was created in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, was the favorite of the six judges, taking home $2,500 for its BBQ Rodeo Burger, all-natural Angus beef with charred jalapeños, pepper jack cheese, crispy haystack onions and sweet Memphis barbecue sauce. BurgerFi has 120 locations around the country.
The event, held under the open air tent on the beach near the Ritz-Carlton South Beach, was hosted by Emeril Lagasse, called “the godfather of the Food Network” by Food Network Chef Robert Irvine, who was one of the celebrity judges.
Festival founder Lee Schrager praised Lagasse for his commitment to the festival, now in its 22nd year.
“When I started this festival 22 years ago only one person that would make a difference, give us credibility and help put us on the map, and that is our host of Burger Bash tonight,” Schrager said. “Emeril has taken a hiatus for a few years, but he is back!”
The other BurgerFi-loving judges were Nicole Gates, co-owner of Overtown’s Lil’ Greenhouse Grill; Dave Portnoy from Barstool Sports, Phil Rosenthal from the Netflix series “Somebody Feed Phil,” South Florida journalist Jawan Strader and restaurateur and TV personality Ming Tsai.
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The country band Midland performed before the announcement of the winners, while audience members attempted to digest the tremendous number of burgers they’d ingested, from 30 different restaurants including local favorites like Kush Hospitality, Vice Burger and Caja Caliente (which served a Miami-friendly frita Cubana with beef and chorizo, pepitas, cheddar and a special sauce on a homemade Cuban bun).
Schrager was pleased with the packed, raucous and apparently hungry turnout.
“Record numbers, great burgers beautiful weather, great music — to me, it’s perfect,” he said.
The South Beach Wine & Food Festival continues through Sunday at events around Miami and Miami Beach.
