Renowned Miami Chefs Feel Pride Representing the Magic City at Formula 1 Miami

Formula 1 is a global event, yet fairly new to the Magic City. The 2024 Miami Grand Prix marks only the third year since the city officially became a stop among the international race tracks.

For every stop around the world, the paddock and campus surrounding the race track become an epicenter of the local culture and cuisine for locals and international fans. Event organizers take on the task of creating a city-within-a-city that captures the local community and highlights its best features.

To no surprise, Miami's eclectic culinary scene is one of the best elements the city has to offer.

For the past two years, the culinary lineup has included community-owned eateries, local business partnerships, and some of Miami's favorite chefs. This year, two returning renowned chefs, Michelle Bernstein and Michael Schwartz, talked to New Times about their experience representing Miami on the Formula 1 campus and why they're excited to represent Miami at the event once again.

Miami native Chef Michelle Bernstein is a James Beard Award-winning chef. Miamians know her name to be attached to some of their favorite concepts, including Little Havana's Cafe La Trova, ranked fifth on Food & Wine's 15 Top Bars in the U.S. list, run by Bernstein and mixologist and owner Julio Cabrera.

This year, she returns to the F1 campus to represent her city. The chef brings her internationally recognized Miami Beach cocktail bar, Sweet Liberty, known for its creative and fun menu with interesting twists on American classic cuisine.

"I’m honored to come back to the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix 2024," Bernstein tells New Times. "I feel it means so much to South Florida as a whole. It’s such a huge event that impacts so many people, including all those we are able to hire in and out of our network."
After last year's experience, Chef Bernstein believes this year's menu will quickly become a fan favorite thanks to her popular dishes that are returning this year.

"We never know what guests are going to want and desire. However, we feel like we are really honing in this year with Sweet Liberty’s insatiable burger and ridiculously crave-able cauliflower nachos," says Bernstein. "I can’t fail to mention that we are bringing Michy’s Chicken Shack this year, which has always been a dream of mine to share all of my fried chicken sandwiches with eventgoers.”

Sweet Liberty will be located at the MIA Marina, serving some of its signature menu with a sit-down option or a grab-and-go alternative a few steps away. The Sweet Liberty Bar offers a consolidated food menu and some of Sweet Liberty's staple cocktails like the piña colada, spicy paloma, and a spicy mango margarita.

Walking over to the neighbor zone, fans will find Harry's Pizzeria and might just stumble upon one of the pioneers of Miami's Design District food scene. James Beard Award-Winning Chef Michael Schwartz opened Michael's Genuine Food & Drink 17 years ago, he went on to create the Genuine Hospitality Group which has since opened local favorites including Amara at Paraiso and Harry's Pizzeria.
"We have been to F1 since the beginning," says Chef Schwartz. "When we heard F1 was coming to Miami, we got really excited about it. We knew it would bring a lot of national and international attention to the city's dining scene, so we wanted to be involved in some way."

Chef Schwartz says when participating in events like this, there are always many variables and unknown factors, so, it's somewhat of a leap of faith. The first year gave the team a chance to get the lay of the land and improve for future years.

"It's essentially like opening a restaurant for three days," Chef Schwartz tells New Times. "I would say we've learned a lot about how to be better and more efficient, specifically at F1. We make pizza, and we make a lot of it while trying to do it fast and make it taste good. We want to make our representation of Harry's and our brand look as good as it can be at F1."

This year, Harry's Pizzeria can be found on the West Campus serving some of its classic pizzas, including the classic cheese, pepperoni, and mushroom truffle. Other offerings include an escarole caesar salad, a watermelon margarita, and a cucumber vodka cocktail.

Those with VIP passes can find Chef Schwartz's Latin flare from Amara at Paraiso in the VIP suites. The menu differs by day, but some of the highlights to look forward to include the moqueca, which is a Brazilian fish stew, crispy pork belly sliders, and al pastor taquitos for lunch. Snacks include the tuna tostada, shrimp toast banh mi, a crispy yuca cake, and some sweet options like the banana toffee panini, chocolate budino, and chocolate dulce de leche flan.

"It's exciting to shine a spotlight on Miami and the food scene here," says Chef Schwartz. "Events like F1, Art Basel, and the Miami Open are pretty international, and I believe people come to Miami and expect top quality, interesting, and fun food and beverage options. I think they will get that for sure this year, there's always a mix of very well-established bigger brands, then some fast casual, and then a lot of people participating that are sort of up and coming and trying to establish themselves."

Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix. Friday, May 3, through Sunday, May 5, at Hard Rock Stadium, 347 Don Shula Dr., Miami Gardens; f1miamigp.com.