MIAMI – Historic Overtown is turning into a foodies hotspot this weekend for the third annual Black Pepper Food and Wine Festival.
The event is showcasing black-owned restaurants across South Florida that you may not knew were in your backyard.
One of the best parts about this festival is that it’s free!
“It’s a testament of our hard work and dedication to make sure that Miami has representation and inclusion in the culinary space for Black-owned businesses,” event cofounder Alexis Brown said.
The Black Pepper Food and Wine Festival is in its third year at The Urban in Historic Overtown.
You can try dishes from more than 40 Black-owned restaurants and food trucks, and the flavors are from all over.
“So more than just fried chicken and collard greens. We have a variety of offerings -- we have vegan, we have different fusion offerings, we have an Asian concept. There’s a Haitian pizza concept,” Brown said. “When we first started it, there was a lot of doubt because they were like, ‘Are there enough Black-owned restaurants in South Florida that would even be interested in participating in something like this?’ And so, three events later, (there’s) 45 businesses that we’re gonna have featured at this festival.”
One of the people pulling up is Ty Dupont, the owner of Ty’s Hometown Café and Bistros.
“I started off as doing brunch with my kids. So we’ll have Sunday brunch every Sunday and we’ll sit down, come up with different menus, come up with different things,” Dupont said.
She got her wheels from the Brightline and Miami Dade College inaugural Food Truck Enterprise Program, which gave her the keys to her food truck and a 10-year contract to set up shop outside a Brightline station in downtown Miami.
You can catch her there five days a week, whipping up sticky wings and some unique spins on brunch favorites.
You can dig in this weekend at the festival.
“It’s important because it honors our culture, who we are as people. It honors the art of food, the creation of food, the livelihood of food, and it also honors just us being, you know, who we are,” Brown said.
And food isn’t the only thing on the menu -- there will also be drinks, live entertainment and cooking demos.
The purpose is to highlight Black chefs and their businesses while supporting a good cause.
“This event is a fundraiser for Eat Well Exchange, which is a Black-owned nonprofit that helps teach the community how to eat their cultural foods in a healthy way,” Brown said. “So for those who would like to donate, there is a donation ticket option on the website.”
Things kick off Friday night, but the main day is Saturday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
To make a donation or to find out more information, visit https://www.blackpepperfoodfest.com/.