ART BASEL- THE ART OF CHEESE

 
  Miami's Art Basel weekend is here.  Enjoying it is a challenge, the cars and crowds can make you crazy.
    Francesca and I skipped dinner Friday night hoping we'd be able to skip a lot of the Art Basel traffic.  Even at 6 pm it took 20 minutes to park in Wynwood in an neighborhood where car theft is not uncommon.
   We took in a few galleries then ventured over to the tent-the-size-of-a-small-town known as "Art Miami".  Inside hosts of international galleries showed off their stuff.

  I couldn't help thinking how much better this dog would look if I switched his Hello Kitty shirt with one of my Mango Republic designs. I almost pulled it off then remembered there are serious penalties for tampering with $8000 stuffed dogs wearing clothes at Miami's premiere art event.








This guy's stare haunted me. 
 

 Don't look.


     It was fun wandering around the mega-tent but we were hungry.  We tengo'd mucho hambre.

Walking outside I spotted the best tent of all,



    By taking a short cut to its brightly lit entrance I later found out I had skirted security guards working to keep people like us out (they were having a private party that night).

As we waltzed in everyone was very nice to us, as if we were special guests.  A woman approached and asked if she could check us off her list.  When I told her we weren't on it she asked us to leave in an very nice way.   As she walked us to the door she explained that she represented the French Cheese Association and this gathering for an international coterie of food writers.
    That was it for me.  "I write about food sometimes", I told her, "and I wrote for the Miami Herald for five years.  Now, I blog".  That's all it took.  Our hostess paused short of the door and  welcomed us a second time. 

IN PRAISE OF FRENCH CHEESE

  My goodness, they had tables piled with with the world's finest cheeses, fresh fruit, and breads.
  With little plates piled high we seats at the edge of the Eat Art tent. Next to us was a door that magically opened every two minutes with waiters bringing out wine, champagne, and hors devours of every delicious sort.  We were their first stop.
   Francesca and I perched, drank, and ate happily just like they do on the Champs Elysee.  We were thrilled that we had stumbled upon fine French food which to us, hungry for art and more, was the best Art Basel experience of all.

Eat Art is open to everyone today, the last day of Art Basel.  Yes, maybe you'll have to pay for the food but it is delicious and the prices are good, 3102 NE 1st Avenue.