2nd Annual Taste of Tennis Miami at W South Beach

Photography by Ryan Troy on March 28th, 2016 in Lifestyle

1-DSC_6377

Miami Beach, FL – March 21, 2016 – The 2nd Annual Taste of Tennis Miami brought together tennis fans and foodies to W South Beach Hotel & Residences. The evening brought together professional athletes, top chefs and luxury brands for an unforgettable evening of gourmet food, interactive sponsor experiences, signature cocktails and appearances by the world’s best tennis players. Tennis personalities were paired with some of Miami’s best chefs to serve up a unique food tasting experience. Some of the duos included former World No. 1 professional tennis player Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Chef Dustin Ward of BLT Prime and Canadian tennis player, currently ranked number No. 42 in the world, Genie Bouchard and Chef Timon Balloo of Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill. While some cooked, Victoria Azarenka celebrated her second BNP Paribas Open championship title, defeating rival Serena Williams in Sunday’s final at Indian Wells, in the DJ booth alongside DJ Mad Linx, and later joined by DJ Irie.

Tennis greats including Simona Halep, Lucie Safarova, Sam Groth, Guido Pella, Coco Vandeweghe, Simona Halep, Darren Cahill, Patrick Mouratoglou, Nicole Gibbs, Lauren Davis, Heidi el Tabakh, Elina Svitolina, Jean-Julien Rojer, Belinda Bencic, Kiki Mladenovic, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Andrea Hlavackova, Andrea Petkovic, Johanna Konta, Chan Hao-Ching & Chan Yuan-Liang, Dominika Cibulkova, Yanina Wickmayer and Gabriela Dabrowski were in attendance. Each player was paired with some of Miami’s best chefs throughout the evening. Miami’s finest chefs and restaurants including Andrew Carmellini (The Dutch), Mike Pirolo (Bazi), Dustin Ward (BLT Prime), Diego Solano (Bulla Gastrobar), Nelson Fernandez (Byblos), Paolo Dorigato (Dolce Italian), Lucas Marino (Driftwood Room), Gilberto Arriaza (Gilbert’s Bakery), Kerry Heffernan (Grand Banks), John Iatrellis (Lure Fishbar), Piyarat Potha Arreeratn, also known as Chef Bee (Naiyara), Patrick Reholz (Quality Meats), Timon Balloo (Sugarcane Rawbar & Grill), Giselle Pinto (Sugar Yummy Mama) and Loris Navone (Tamarina) all brought delightful small plates to the night. A portion of the proceeds from the event benefited FIU College of Architecture + The Arts. Major sponsors for the 2nd Annual Taste of Tennis Miami included W South Beach Hotel & Residences, Citi, Lifeway Kefir, Celebrity Cruises, Russian Standard Vodka, Goose Island Beer Company, Outside The Ball, ChefWorks, Evian, Cherry Pie Wines, Duke Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Volkl, and Penn.

1.1-DSC_6831 1.5-DSC_6381