The South Beach Food and Wine Festival is one of the premiere food events in the world, and what better way to kick it off than with a serious "beef-a-palooza" dinner. AndrewZimmern.com talks to the three Cleveland born and bred chefs--Michael Symon (Lola, Iron Chef America), Peter Vauthy (Red, the Steakhouse) and Scott Popovic (Certified Angus Beef)-- behind the action. 

AndrewZimmern.com: You three are teaming up for the Prelude Dinner to South Beach Food and Wine Festival, however, it sounds like you guys go way back. Where did you all meet?

Micheal Symon: We met in Cleveland. There is actually only nine people who live there and we’re three of them [laughs]. The thing that brought the three of us together is Brad Friedlander, one of the primary owners of Red. I’ve known Brad for close to 20 years. That’s how I met Peter, and I know Scott through the restaurant business.

AZ.com:  So all three of you are from Cleveland, a city whose food scene has gotten a lot of press in recent years. What makes Cleveland rock, food-wise?

MS:  For a city the size of Cleveland, a mid-market city, it’s the strongest food city in the country. It’s never going to be New York or San Francisco, but you can’t pick another mid-market city that has near the food scene as Cleveland—it’s just not possible. We’ve had a terrific farm-to-table movement there that’s been going on for over 20 years. We’ve got a lot of chefs that are extremely well-established, the Paul Minnillos that have laid the ground work for all of us. A lot of great up and coming young chefs like John Sawyer and some of the guys who work for me – like Derek Clayton or Matt Harlan It’s got a really great food scene.

AZ.com: What should diners expect at your SoBe dinner?

MS: Expect a lot of Certified Angus Beef. It’s just a giant beef-a-palooza at Red to kick-off South Beach and get the party started at one of the premier restaurants in South beach, which just happens to have Cleveland ties.

AZ.com: Michael, what’s going on with the new season of Iron Chef America?

MS: We finished up filming last season in July, and I did eleven battles. I go back in July to do anywhere from 8 to 12 this year. They usually ask me how many I want to do, and I typically say mo more than ten. Then they give me 11 just to piss me off [laughs]. 

AZ.com: Anyone you’d like to battle?

MS: I’m kinda a take-all-comers guy. I'd battle Andrew. The bigger the chef, the more excited I am to battle them. I always want to take on the big dogs when I have the opportunity. I’ve been threatening David Chang to come on for awhile, but he won’t do it.

AZ.com: Fave episode so far?

MS: Two years ago, I did a battle offal against Chris Cosentino. That was a fun one for me. There’s one coming up this season that I did against Spike from Top Chef. He actually used to be used to be my butcher at Parea in New York. So that was kinda fun.

AZ.com: Between filming Iron Chef America, other T.V. appearances and events, it sounds like you’re on the road a lot. How do you manage to stay on top of what’s going on at Lola?

MS: We’ve got five concepts, seven restaurants. I’ve worked really hard to surround myself with great people. I have two great business partners-- my wife Liz and Doug [Petkovic]. All the restaurants have fantastic chefs, some of them who have been with me for fifteen years now. We’ve taken the attitude that we’re only as good as the people we surround ourselves with.

I’ve been very fortunate in my career with awards and exposure. I have a lot of young, super-star chefs working for me now, and my goal is to make them famous. Cause I am the most handsome, I don’t care how famous the rest of them get [laughs].

AZ.com: Peter and Scott, is this your first major SoBe experience? What are you most excited about?

Peter Vauthy: Yeah, I did [South Beach] last year. I did a bqq on the beach last year, it was a great experience. A little intimidating at first, but when it was all said and done, I was very happy with what we did and the food the came out of the kitchen. I use the word “kitchen” loosely 'cause you’re on the beach and it’s raining and five minutes before the event starts, nothing is set up yet. At least this year it’s in my kitchen and I can somewhat control the things that are going on—aside from Scott showing up whenever he wants [laughs].

MS: The beatuful thing about doing a dinner like this is that I was literally able to come in today and Peter had all my work done for me. All our prep ready to go. He’s really given me the royal treatment, which allows me to come out here and get away form 90-hour weeks for a couple of days. I was telling these guys that last night, I was in the hotel with my wife. We were laying in bed, rented a movie and ordered room service. I mean, you don’t get to do that so much as a chef.

AZ.com: Michael, did you even pack your knives?

MS:  No, no. I didn’t pack my knives. I’m using Peter’s knives. And I’m doing the Burger Bash, but you don’t really need a knife for that. And for cooking demos, they supply the knives too.

PV: You don’t have to worry about TSA on that one.

MS: I tried to carry the knives on with me, but Delta’s really funny about that [laughs].

AZ.com: How much planning goes into an event this size? Who came up with the recipes?

MS: The menu was a collaboration. The vast majority of the menu is Peter’s and things they do at Red. I did one of the courses with the entrée and one of the hors d'oeuvres and sent recipes to Peter and he got them all ready for me. So the recipes aren’t a collaboration, but the menu is.

AZ.com: What’s the story behind the Brisket Sliders with “Marrownaise”?

MS: I am a firm believer that everything is life is better with marrow. I put it on my toast in the morning [laughs]. It’s a dish we do at our casual restaurant, Bar Symon, and it’s a dish we do there with beef tongue and marrownaise. But we wanted to do something with Certified Angus Beef, so we did the brisket and roasted the marrow and folded it into an aioli and it’s rich and yummy and good.

AZ.com: Name one chef who you would love to cook an event like this with next year.

Scott Popovic: Actually, to cook in general, I love cooking with my grandmother. To me, it’s going back to my roots. But at something like a South Beach Food and Wine Festival, I would love to cook with Charlie Palmer. I actually worked for him several years ago and he’s an idol of mine. I’d love to cook with him again.

MS: I’ve been really lucky. I’ve gotten to cook with chefs who were boyhood idols of mine and people who I idolize in the business now. I feel very blessed in that sense. I like cooking with most chefs because of the camaraderie and stuff that goes with it. I’m just happy to be down here with everybody. I love cooking with Bobby [Flay]. I’ve cooked with him a lot in the past and still enjoy coking with him. I love cooking with Mario [Batali]. Actually, now thinking about it, two chefs that I would love to cook with that I haven’t had a chance to yet are Fergus Henderson and Marco Pierre White.

PV: Of course, I’d like to jump of the grandparents thing. A lot of my recipes come from cooking with my great-grandmother and grandmother. But I’ve had a chance ot cook with a lot of great people… For me, I think every chef you cook with gives you a chance to learn more about something you don’t know; learn a new way of doing something. I love having other people come in the kitchen and show me something that I haven’t seen or a new technique that they’ve picked up long the way. But if I had to pick someone, I’d probably go with Charlie Trotter. He’s got a great reputation for what he does. It’s over-the-top and I would like to take that sort of style and translate into something I can do here at Red.