Guy Fieri brings Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives to South Beach

Guy Fieri hosted a live Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives event at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival on February 24. The beachside program gathered restaurants associated with the television series, translating a show built around travel into an evening of tasting in one place.

The format reverses the usual relationship between viewer and destination. Instead of following a host from town to town, guests encounter participating kitchens together. That allows comparisons a television episode cannot provide through a screen.

The event also gives smaller restaurant identities a place within a large festival. Familiarity may begin with a broadcast, but the food has to stand as a direct experience. South Beach supplied the shared setting for that transition from watching a culinary journey to taking part in one.