The food and beverage experience at Formula 1 Miami brings in a true taste of the city.
The 275,000 weekend fans at Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix have a true taste of Miami within their grasp. From ceviche stations to a food hall ripped straight from Miami Beach’s Lincoln Road, the home of F1 in Miami tastes like, well, Miami.
“Now that we have a better understanding of how fans navigate our campus as we went into year four, we are able to cater to their needs a bit more specifically and use Hard Rock Stadium and its surrounding footprint to our advantage,” Sydney McClain, senior director of events and food & beverage for the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix, tells me.
That includes loading the site with a diverse range of offerings.
The F1 Miami food and beverage scene at Hard Rock Stadium features nine distinct neighborhoods.
“Miami is a wonderful combination of different cultures and flavors, so it is easy to bring that across the campus to highlight a little of everything,” McClain says, adding fans can go from Peruvian steak or sushi to Latin cuisine or an oyster bar in one food hall. Sprinkle in food trucks and beverage stands and there’s options aplenty.
With 75% of fans a grandstand or campus pass ticketholder and 25% a premium hospitality guests, F1 Miami offers more than 65 concession and food hall options across the campus, including featuring new local restaurants this year such as Miami Slice, Bodega Taqueria y Tequila, Fable Miami, Bondi Sushi and Eataly.
“We really prioritize the concept of ‘simple food, done well,’ which encompasses everything from the array of offerings, the functionality of our kitchens and using data to ensure that we have enough points of sale around the campus,” McClain says.
Pop-up food experiences bring Miami-era chefs into the F1 Miami weekend for special activations for … More
The goal along the way is to bring the flavor of Miami to the fan experience. Spanning more than 200 acres, the campus features nine custom-designed zones, each with a unique atmosphere, décor, art and flavor. “Fans have plenty of opportunity to enjoy a different experience each day with all that we have to offer,” McClain says.
By working with local restaurants to create pop-up experiences, it allows fans to try popular or iconic Miami restaurants right at the event, all while bringing in a range of new vendors each year. Each zone is inspired by different elements of Miami and the local food and beverage options tie into that zone experience.
“The Beach Zone has a food hall, and all the restaurant concepts inside also have a permanent home on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach,” McClain says. “The MIA Marina has chef Michael Schwartz, a James Beard Award winning chef of Amara at Paraiso, an ocean-front restaurant with Latin and coastal cuisine. We put a lot of intentionality behind how we pair food and beverage to our campus zones, with the hope that fans have a truly immersive experience when they are at the track.”
The Fountains Zone, which overlooks the podium and is sandwiched between two portions of the track, has turned into a vibrant social area, so in year four that means programming the space with experiential offerings, such as Bodega, where guests enjoy tacos, cocktails and a live DJ. This year also include a sit-down option with Zuma.
The diversity of the food at Formula 1 Miami is meant to show off the culture of Miami.
Logistically, F1 Miami now features 14 functional kitchen containers around campus for efficient cooking. It also allows the team to work with Miami-based chefs in the hospitality spaces where a Guest Chef Program invites local chefs to curate menus within the different hospitality spaces. “Each chef is present during race weekend to showcase their featured items,” McClain says, “and this gives our guests an authentic piece of Miami for a decorated chef within their experience at our grand prix.”
McClain says with the goal of helping fans experience Miami, the guest chef effort and the diversity of Miami flavors across the entire site—done in conjunction with Sodexo Live!—helps build on that experience. This year, Do&Co will serve in the Paddock Club, Groot Hospitality takes over The 72 Club, Major Food Group in the Palm Club and Alinea Group in the new Record Room. The site also hosts pop-up experiences throughout the weekend, which includes a live ceviche station, a roaming ice cream cart, a walking cannoli experience, blue fin tuna carving and tasting and caviar tastings.
“There really is something for everyone,” McClain says, “so that all guests understand and experience the unique culture of Miami while at the track with us.”
MORE: Australian Open Food Scene Part Of Festival Atmosphere
MORE: Super Bowl LIX Offers A True Taste Of New Orleans
MORE: The Tennis Sunshine Double Requires Plenty Of Fan Food